Gandhi's Children

In a suburb of New Delhi 350 boys live under one roof. Many of these boys are orphans; others have been abandoned by their parents; some have run away from home or have been picked up from the streets by the police. Physically and emotionally scarred by the experiences of their short lives to date, all they have now is each other and the food and board that “The Prayas Children’s Home” is hard pressed to provide for them. One day 181 boys are rescued from a child labour factory and brought to the monolithic building that is already bursting at the seams. How will they be accommodated and what stories do they have to tell? The master of visual anthropology, David MacDougall spent several months in the children’s home capturing on film the details of the youngsters’ everyday lives. He shows us their routines, the terrible sanitary conditions, the bedwetting and the tears but despite all this there are small moments of pleasure. The boys display resourcefulness, resilience and a strong sense of comradeship – they will survive. (DOK.fest München)