All language subtitles for WasTun.en

My first morning in Bangladesh.

After two days of traveling
and a sleepless night,

I am lying on my hotel
bed feeling dead tired.

The fan gives
me at least some relief.

Lights and shadows fall through
a small gap in the shutter,

displaying the
signs of life of this

foreign world on the
hotel room's ceiling.

While I'm watching
the "movie" on that ceiling,

I remember the movie that
was the trigger for my journey.

That night,
the lights and shadows of this

world were projected
on a screen in Munich:

They were showing
a girl in a documentary,

who paused in the middle of an

interview and asked
her own questions.

Questions that
wouldn't let go of me.

Questions I didn't
know the answers to.

Answers that I myself
would like to know.

I would like to say something.

We women are actually
very unhappy creatures.

To survive as a woman...

is actually really hard.

Why...

do we have to live
with so much suffering?

Isn't there any other
way for us women?

Is there a way at all?

Who can answer
this question for me?

I can't get the girl and
her questions out of my mind.

Although our lives
couldn't be more different.

She, a 15-year-old
girl in Bangladesh,

who had been
abducted to a brothel

and was asking
for a way of life,

that was different from
being raped several times a day.

Me...

a documentary film student
from Munich in his early 30s.

Sleepless again from pondering

which one of all the possible
ways of life really made sense.

Now I feel somehow caught.

Why do I watch pain
and get myself involved,

when I know I can't
do anything about it?

But what am I supposed to do?

Tune it out?

Be indifferent to it?

Should I look for the girl in

Bangladesh and
find out if I can help?

Of course not.

And while I reflect
about this the

next morning,
the doorbell rings.

This is something
we have as well,

questions about life.

Would it be silly, if one is
aware of being

touched and stuff,

to go there and help?

You can't help.

The only help that
will reach us at the end,

will come through
the kingdom of God.

All conditions on earth
will eventually be changed,

as right now it's not
God who is the ruler.

The Bible says that Satan is the
ruler of this system of things.

Someone we humans
can't overcome.

But the future will bring
change, Jehovah will intervene.

Through us or by himself?

He himself will intervene

and he will sort out those
who are causing trouble

on this planet.

I'm drinking tomato juice.

I look out the window.

Cities at night remind
me of grazed knees.

Two years have passed since
I saw the interview with the

girl and made that unexpected
acquaintance at my door.

In those two years I had many

conversations about
that girl in the movie.

I interviewed
people on the streets,

and friends who
had been involved

in humanitarian projects.

I talked to male
and female experts,

like filmmaker Michael Haneke,

to Michaela Rehm,
a professor of ethics,

and to psychoanalyst
Wolfgang Schmidbauer.

How do they all deal with the

images and stories
that reach us?

Do we have a
global responsibility?

Do I have helper syndrome?

My professor asked me,

if I intended to
ride as a white man

on a high horse
into the brothel,

to heroically share my coat.

I learned a lot during
these conversations,

but nevertheless my inner
urge to follow my first impulse,

to find out what
would actually happen

if I tried to do
something, grew.

Doing nothing for good reason...

I've done that often enough.

Is it possible
to find that girl?

At least I want to try.

The destination of my
journey: Faridpur.

This is where almost seven
years ago filmmaker

Michael Glawogger
made the interview.

I have this feeling you get
when you jump off a diving board

and there is no going back.

I think about
the girl's questions.

Is there a way?

My way back would take much
longer now than to go ahead.

And despite all doubts
and uncertainties,

that feels right

QUESTIONS

Fantastic.

Very nice.
- But where is she?

She says that you men
are good customers.

Oh, we are good customers?

With your life you
are good customers.

But...

She says, she is very poor.

Poor woman, very poor woman.

I'm not getting any clue.

I'm not completely
sure what she is saying...

She's not talking very clearly.

But where could I find her?

- It is very tough.
- It's very tough?

It is very tough to find out.

Do you know anything
about the situation there?

No, actually, no.

I never go there.

But you can check,
the brothel is there.

On the bank of this river.
- The city river?

The roof of the building.

This?
- Yes, the white one.

Can you lead us there?

No?

Thank you very much.

With some hesitation
I follow his directions

and wonder whether
I should rather

postpone my first
visit to the brothel,

when suddenly a boy
steps up to me, who

had been following
me for some time.

"Brothel?" he asks shyly.

But less than one
minute later he takes

my hand and guides
me through the city,

as if we had known
each other forever.

His name is Redoy.

Which translated to
English means "heart."

After a discussion
about if and whom

I'm allowed to film,
I dare to take the next step.

Do you know her?

No?

I'm not allowed
to film underage girls.

Some of them
have mask-like white

makeup, and glassy
eyes and empty looks,

as if they are on drugs.

And I notice the many
children who are bustling about,

and who have made this
environment

their home as naturally

as kids do with it with every
environment all over the world.

Do you know where she lives?

Where we can find her?

I know where it is.

So you know her?

She used to live there,
I don't know about now.

The camera seems
to give the people

the feeling that I
know what I'm doing

and it protects me from
being perceived as a client.

I immerse myself in this alien
world, that I feel deeply about.

But does it concern me at all?

A group of girls approaches me.

Their Madam, that's to
say their procurer, their owner,

had once told them
about a film shooting.

And indeed: I
recognise the woman

from Michael Glawogger's movie.

When I was the spokeswoman here,

someone introduced me to Michael

and he accompanied
me everywhere.

He also took a picture of me.

So, does she know this girl?

Why do we have to live
with so much suffering?

Isn't there any other
way for us women?

No, I don't know her.

She looks a bit like Shumi.

She doesn't know her?
- No.

She was not her Madam?
- No.

At the end of the interview
the girl asks some questions.

Do you have answers
to these questions?

We don't have a real chance.

And there is no chance
to find another job either.

But each one of us

would love to get out of
here and see the world.

The journey to the other side of

the screen was so
unexpectedly fast.

I'm surprised by the hospitality

and the honesty
of the people here.

They invite me for
tea everywhere and the

women tell me frankly
why they are here.

Many of them because they
are forced to work for a Madam.

Others used to be forced,
but then they

couldn't find a way
back into society

as they were
considered dishonored.

When they get too old
to earn money, they buy

young girls in return and force
them to work for them.

A vicious circle...
since colonial times.

Nobody that I talked to
knew anything about the girl.

On my way back to the hotel I
run into my first acquaintance.

Redoy, the boy who had guided me
to the brothel.

He tells me that he lives
in the brothel with his sister.

At night he prefers
roaming the streets.

His sleeping place
is under the bed

where his sister
serves her clients.

My stepmother, she often used
to beat me up.

One morning at three o'clock,

my sister and I ran off.

We slept in Dhaka station...

Please, slow down.

How long did you stay there?

We stayed there
ten days without food.

I prayed to Allah.

"Oh, Allah, please send
someone who can change my life."

And a woman came
and took us to Faridpur.

But she sold us for 1300 Euros.

Then my sister got sold again.

It's so bad here that we are
wondering about how to escape.

I've never been
without my sister

and I couldn't live without her.

I got no indication
where to find the girl,

but two names were
mentioned to me in the

brothel again and again:
Chanchala and Shyamal.

I made some
research and found out

that they were among
the first ones to speak

up for the rights of sex
workers in Bangladesh

and that they fight
against forced prostitution.

Meanwhile they also run a home

for little girls
from the brothel.

Shyamal speaks English.

During our phone
call he invites me

straight away to
come to his home.

So yesterday,
when I was in the brothel,

I got to know so many people

and heard about their
abuse and suffering.

And I asked myself,
"What can one do?"

You know,
you cannot help the whole world.

What do you think?

Yeah, it's true.

But somebody has to start.

I'm optimistic,
always optimistic.

Because when I started
this organization,

we had a broken
chair and a broken table.

And now it is big enough.

In my sense it is big enough.

We had a small start.

We see that the start is small,
we like to be small,

but we want to
make it beautiful.

Through his studies in Japan

Shyamal got in contact
with aid agencies for

women who had become
victims of sexual violence.

That made him
perceive things in his

home country
with different eyes.

With his wife Chanchala
he founded a non-profit

organization that they called
Shapla Mohila, "Lily-woman."

Shyamal invites me
to the office to meet Chanchala.

Our social
situation is like this:

Since our country
is a Muslim country,

it's already a sin

to pronounce the
words "sex worker."

It's also a sin to get
closer than twelve meters

to a sex worker.

All this is a sin.

"Keep as much distance
as possible from them,"

that's what I thought back then.

When I started this work,

I knew many rumors
from the brothel,

as I grew up close to it.

To see it with my own
eyes made me so sad

that I wanted to
rescue these girls.

So they told you to lie,
didn't they?

They said they would tell me

what I should say
regarding my age.

I told them that I was 15.

But they said that I had
to tell people I was 20.

I stayed calm and thought about

how I could run away.

Yesterday I tried,
but I didn't make it.

Chanchala and Shyamal
probably know hundreds

of cases like the girl
from the documentary.

I feel almost embarrassed
to tell them that I came

all the way because of
the questions of one girl.

Do you think it's somehow unjust

to help one girl
because she had the luck

to be in that movie?

Yes, it's not unjust, I'd say...

but a single person
you can help,

but it is better to
change the system.

Because it is a
continuous process,

one girl will come,
another girl will come,

then another will escape...

It's not going to stop.

So we need to think
about the system,

we need to change the system.

Of course Shyamal is right.

But that I should be
able to change the

system
seems a bit unrealistic to me.

Maybe I should just
stick to my search for now.

Do you think it's
possible to find that girl?

It's a time thing.

So in the short time

it's not possible to find her.

Maybe it will take one or two
or even three, five years.

Shyamal tells me that
he and his wife often

run into opposition, because
they support dishonored women.

And that he is pleased
to meet someone

who isn't indifferent
to these fates.

He wants to help me in my search

and accompanies
me to the brothel.

Can we find her here?

What does she think?
Is there a way out?

He wants to know

if there is a way to
get out of this place?

Every time I have a client,

I need to wake up my
son and send him out.

That hurts me.

We all have the same problem,
all the time.

Having to shake the kids out
of sleep and then have sex.

I want to go to school.
- He wants to go to school.

Our life is almost over.

But we want a
different life for our kids.

We need a home for the boys,

like there is one
for the little girls.

You know, I can't build a
children's home, you know.

Yes.

This mother is not the only
one who asks me to do that.

My pale skin seems to
promise unlimited resources.

And of course it would
make sense to build a home.

Kids who live in
a brothel usually

don't get accepted
by the schools,

as other parents would take
their kids out of the classes.

And without education,
they will very

likely spend their
whole lives in a brothel.

I ask Shyamal how the girls
get into forced prostitution.

And he offers to
introduce me to someone

who worked as a
human trafficker.

Shyamal says that
they don't need to hide

themselves too much, as the
police often cash in as well.

And in fact,
less than one hour later,

I find myself sitting
in front of him.

My job is to stroll
around the city square.

Sometimes I find poor
and lost girls there.

They are very hungry.

First I give them hope.

I say, "Come with me,
you can work as a housemaid."

Then they accept.

But I have a different plan.

I'm going to sell them.

They say,
"I don't do this kind of job."

Then I use torture.

After torturing a girl,
I bring her to a house where

I continue the torture.

If I threaten to continue,
they accept.

First I give her sleeping
pills and when she is asleep,

I wake her up in the
middle of the night.

Together with three or four
friends we

completely undress her.

We tell her, "If you
don't do it, we kill you."

Do you also sexually
abuse the girls?

Yes, and we take pictures
and threaten to show them

to their families

if they don't cooperate.

I need the money.

These girls are not my family,

I don't care if they're
suffering, I picked them

up from the streets.

If somebody did
this to your daughter,

what would you do?

I would kill him.

I would shoot him dead.

- He would have killed that...
- Really?

Really?

Yes.

Shyamal gets a phone call and we
drive straight to the brothel.

A young woman called
Hafeza sought refuge

with someone of
his aid organization.

Sonya rescued her,
I wasn't there.

Now tell us, we are here.

There was blood
everywhere in her room.

Here, she hit her with this one.

She could have died.

Oh my God.

How do you know
that she was beaten?

Look at her face.

She hit her terribly.

Where are you from? Dinajpur?

And how did you get here?

OK, you don't need to talk.

Hafeza has been in the
brothel for only ten days.

Ever since her Madam
had tried to break

her resistance
without any success.

Hafeza let every client feel

that she wasn't
there voluntarily.

But she can't
stay in the brothel.

So maybe we can
rent a hotel room,

so she can get some rest
until we know what we can do?

A hotel is not safe for her.

You mean it's not safe,
someone could try to harm her?

Maybe it's a problem, yes.
- Someone will come?

Don't tell me she is underage.

If she gets out...

we'll get in trouble
with the police.

In the middle of this chaos,

Redoy,
who wants to play cricket.

Nobody wants to call the police.

They would probably only
take what money they could.

Shyamal takes a
big risk by liberating

Hafeza from the
brothel all by himself.

It's difficult enough
with underage girls and

almost impossible
when a woman is over 18.

Her fingers are
swollen from the beats.

Hafeza's Madam had been cautious

to leave as few
marks as possible,

by hitting her mainly on
the joints and in the stomach.

Visibly mistreated
girls get fewer clients.

When I say goodbye to Hafeza,

she takes my hand,

and suddenly a cold
shiver runs through me.

I realize that in a way the

camera is also a
protection for me

behind which I've been
hiding to some extent.

THIS POST IS VERY
IMPORTANT TO ME

PLEASE READ IT

IT'S A PERSONAL
REQUEST FOR A DONATION

I would like to
somehow help Hafeza.

And also the
kids in the brothel.

The only thing
I can come up with

is to make a post on Facebook

where I ask friends
for donations.

Redoy is waiting for
me in front of the hotel.

He realizes that I'm a bit sad

and to my surprise he
proposes a solution.

Michael is very sad.

I can see that he's very sad.

I will help him to get married.

Is it possible to live
and not be married?

You are married, aren't you?
You should get married too.

I'll get you married.

He said that he
wants to give you a girl.

You have a girl in
your mind already?

She's beautiful and
as white as Michael.

She lives with us
and her name is Tasli.

Why did you choose Tasli?

She is so pretty.

Pretty. Nothing else?

Her skin is as
fair as Michael's.

And her hair is
beautiful and blonde

like Michael's hair.

Her hair is pretty and white,
but what about her heart?

Yes.

And if you slap her twice,
she'll agree to marry him.

Slap her?
- Yes, but only twice.

We need to go to the
hospital. Shyamal is

afraid that Hafeza might
have internal bleeding.

Chanchala has the idea

that I, the white man
with the camera,

could interview the
residence doctor.

Maybe he would
feel flattered and

find a way to treat
Hafeza for free.

I'm a member of this hospital

and pediatrician
of this hospital.

And coordinator of
One Stop Crisis Center,

a project from the government
to help these victims.

The strategy, that doesn't
really make me feel comfortable,

works out and it repeatedly
opens doors for us from now on.

The residence doctor
personally takes

care of Hafeza's
hospital admission.

Somebody hit you.

What happened exactly?

What was the reason?

Nothing special.

That's how it is, she hits me.

But tell me, why?

What she demands,

what she asks me to do for her.

I don't have a clue
what it is all about.

So that's why she hits me.

We should do something.

Sir, we should do something.

Where did she hit you?
- All over the body.

What do you think?

Do you want to report
your Madam to the police?

She should be suffering as much

as she made me suffer.

Then we have to report her.

You can do it,
or your parents can do it.

Hafeza will stay at
the hospital for observation.

Shyamal has to leave.

He needs to drive
the girl that sat in his

office, when I met him
and Chanchala yesterday,

to the government home.

The 15-year-old Padma
had been in the brothel

for just two days,
before she was freed.

She was very lucky.

But the government home
was not how I expected it to be.

The liberated
girls just get locked away,

although they are the victims.

The authorities just
don't know where to put them.

Their families often
refuse to take them back.

And a young woman
who is not connected to a

family has almost no
chance in this society.

I ask Shyamal if it was
a good idea to take Padma here.

His answer: It might
not be an ideal place,

but in the brothel
they are also locked in.

At least here
they don't get violated.

The girls are so locked away.

Why is that? Would they run
away if they had the chance to?

Yes.
- They would run away?

You are right.

We don't like to define it as a…

Victim support center?

Prison?
- Yes.

We don't want to speak that
this a prison cell.

So we call it in a different
name, "safe home."

She tell me the story
how she came here?

How did you end
up as a prostitute?

Why I left home?

Back then I had a fight
at home with my husband.

Then I left home
and went to Bhoirab.

I met a woman there,

she promised me a good job.

But then she brought me
to a brothel and sold me.

I tried to run away,

but I did not make it.

They caught me again.

I was there for one year,

then I was rescued

and they brought
me to this place.

When I came to this home,
I was pregnant.

They brought me to the hospital
and there I had my baby.

Since then we have lived here.

I want to leave as soon as
I have learned something.

I'd like to be able
to learn a job,

to learn a profession.

Until then, I can't go back.

Back then I was very young.

My aunt lived in Dhaka

and I wasn't grown up yet.

When my aunt was at work,

I went outside to look for her.

A woman approached me, saying,

"Your aunt is at my place."

I asked her

if it was true what she
was saying or a lie?

I followed her

and saw that my
aunt wasn't there.

Somebody put a white
tissue over my face.

After that I don't
recall anything.

Monica can only
leave the government

home With her
parents' agreement.

But the home management
can't get hold of them yet.

They seem to have
left their hometown.

Now Monica is locked in here -

for an indefinite time -

together with 30 other girls
and young women.

Upon our departure,
Monica asks us to look for

her family and we
promise her that we'll try.

So they're not in
their hometown?

What do we do now?

I'm looking through
the districts

and then from sub-districts...

Shyamal spends
the afternoon calling

post offices and
village administrations,

until we suddenly
get an unexpected

and very colorful visit.

The kids urge me
to come outside with

them to smear each
other with color.

After visiting the
government home,

I'm not in the mood at all.

But the kids tell me
that it's part of the

Holi festival and if
I refused to come,

I would offend the gods.

I know that most of
the kids are not even Hindus,

but I realize that they
won't take no for an answer.

And maybe some
color will do me good.

Police.

Normally I'm
afraid of the police.

Can you ask Redoy if
police are good people?

Are the police nice?

No. The police are bad here.

Why not?

Police agents who don't
like the drug dealers are good.

Those who support
drug dealers are not good.

If somebody arrested the police,
I would be very happy.

I would thank Michael
if he arrested the police.

I'm so happy that the kids

convinced me not
to offend the gods.

The color did me good.

How could all
this happen in just one day?

The kids and
bathing in the river,

Bringing Padma to
the so-called "safe home."

Hafeza being in hospital.

I haven't given up on
finding the girl from the movie,

but right now I have no
clue how to continue my search.

I really need to get some sleep,

but I can't sleep.

I'm so excited because of my
call for donations on Facebook.

Wait, I'll make it less blurry.

Overnight, from my friends,
we have now 68,000 taka.

Excellent. This is excellent.

I mean it's not much,
but it's a good start.

It's more than I thought.
- Yeah, it's a good start.

Shyamal is euphoric
because of the 700 Euros

and he believes it's enough
to start planning a boys' home.

He and Chanchala
also have good news.

They found Monica's family.

I'm calling from Faridpur.

What?
- I'm calling from Faridpur.

We picked up your
sister at a bus station.

When we find underage girls,

we must deliver
them to the police.

We delivered her to
the government home.

You don't understand.

They won't hand her over to us.

She can only be
consigned to a relative.

If you don't come,
she will rot away.

Is that what you want?

He's saying, "Is it possible
to talk with my sister?"

Ah, yeah.

I said, "Yes, it's possible.
We'll call you."

It will be very tough for
my family to hear all this.

We won't tell them,
and you shouldn't either.

If they heard what I had to do,

they would hang themselves.

We need to tell the same story.

You have been married.

And we picked you up,

when you were hanging around

at the bus station.

You thought that I was dead?

No, I'm in the government home.

You need to come and pick me up.

Can you bring Kamrul?

No, first you need
to go to Dhaka,

then you take the
bus to Faridpur.

Once you are in Faridpur,
you call this number.

Then somebody will
come and pick you up.

No, there won't be any problems.

First you come here and
then I will take care of Dad.

Did your brother believe you?

My brother loves me so much,

he would believe anything.

Why are the girls so locked away

and the boys so free?

Right, right. They're bounded,
but, uh, girls are bounded,

but boys are free.

Yes, why?

It's, uh, gender violence.

Gender violence?

It's suited for our environment.

But is it not possible
to change, you know,

to make it more nice?

We should take a project

for the whole country.

Or for the whole world.

Crying echoes
through the corridors.

The home manager had told Padma,
the girl that

we brought to the
government home yesterday,

that for now, her parents
didn't want to see her.

She will have to stay in the

government home
for an indefinite time.

But I can't be without you,
Mama.

Oh, Allah...

Mama.

How can you be without me?

All the girls had stood
around Padma, looking at her.

But none of them had
tried to console her.

Maybe their own
suffering is too severe.

The next morning I
feel like staying in bed.

When I miss our
common breakfast, Redoy

and Shyamal
decide pay me a visit.

Michael, it's me.

Open up.

Are you sick?

Fever?

Are you OK?

Yes, are you OK?

We made a short cost analysis

the budget analysis,
that we were

planning from the beginning.

Maybe within that money it's
possible to buy these things.

We're thinking that
before you leave, we'll start.

And the city mayor

will invite you to
open the center.

You think that's possible before
I leave on third of March?

Yeah, why not?

We need to find a room.
- Yes.

Hi, Michael.
- Hi.

Come into our house.

Thank you, thank you.

To be honest,
I don't believe we will be

able to open a home
in such a short time.

But even if we do,

Redoy makes it
clear that he will never

leave his sister
alone in the brothel.

And to buy her freedom from her
Madam is not an option for us

because her Madam would just buy
another girl with that money.

Shyamal introduces Aleya to me,

a powerful woman who has
some authority in the brothel.

Maybe she can
help Redoy's sister.

She invites us
for tea this afternoon.

If Redoy's Madam finds out

that we plan to liberate her,

then she might punish her.

I will organize it in a way

that she can't harm her.

She won't even know that
we have anything to do with it.

Before you leave, they will
be free from their Madam.

Before you go
back to your country,

you will see that she will...

That would make me very happy.

This sounds too good to be true.

But Shyamal seems to trust her.

Aleya asks me why
I came to Bangladesh,

and I realise that Shyamal
has his very own explanation.

Michael cried when he
saw a movie in Germany.

He saw that a girl was
forced to be a sex worker.

As an actor, Michael had once
played the son of a prostitute.

That's why he feels so
deeply about these girls.

She used to be mine.

She was under her.

Did I understand correctly?

I had almost given up my search.

And now this friendly
woman was apparently

the owner of the
girl from the movie?

That's Nupur. She works
in the C&B brothel now.

What's her name?
- Nupur.

That's her. They filmed it here.

She's not as pretty anymore
as she was during the interview.

Yes, her words touch the heart.

On the other side of the river,
the brothel.

Nupur.

Seven years have
passed since she

was interviewed for the movie.

My visit must seem
more than absurd to her.

What is she going to think?

He saw the video in Germany.

And his heart felt the pain.

He came here and
asked everybody,

"Where can I find this girl?"

He wanted to find
you and meet you.

The girl in the video
asks questions.

Does she have answers
to those questions?

You had asked why this
life was so full of suffering.

And you were wondering
if there was another way.

Do you have an
answer to this question?

The answer...

At that time

I had been thinking
that I knew the answer.

Because I had been forced into
prostitution against my will.

But now I'm not
really forced anymore.

I want an honorable job,
I want to get out of this place.

What can I do?

I can't find a way.

I'm tired of fighting.

She doesn't want to stay
here and fight like this.

Can you ask her
how I could help?

He wants to know

if there is something
he could help with?

Could I step out briefly?

But we can also leave.

We can go outside now.

Yes, of course.

What will she do now?
- She's telling...

Her honesty,
Her thoughtful way of talking...

Without any doubt Nupur
is the girl from the movie.

Back then she was sure

that to get access
to a better life

she had to get away
from her Madam.

When she finally escaped,
she understood that the

path back into society
was permanently blocked.

Still being here without
being directly forced

felt more shameful to
her than being in bondage.

But for you?

I'm not thirsty right now.

Will he forget me?

How could I forget her?

We decide to meet
again in two days to

discuss with Shyamal
what we could do.

Now we must leave.

A client Nupur can't
refuse will soon arrive.

While we were visiting Nupur,

the preparations for the home
had been running at full speed.

And a period starts during
which we work day and night.

We meet politicians,
bankers, potential supervisors,

and visit every
place which could

in any way be used as a home.

We order beds, buy
clothing and school supplies.

Luckily, Chanchala and
Shyamal know what

to do from building
the girls' home.

So things go fast and smoothly.

We call the project

"Bondhu" -project,
friends'-project,

as all the money was
donated by friends.

How do you feel?

It's amazing.

Because we are
getting a new family.

Are you tired?

So tired.

But it's amazing.

I admit that, while happy,
I'm also a bit nervous,

when the kids come
to sign up for the home.

How big is the responsibility
I'm about to take on?

On the other hand, I will have

thousands of
kilometers of privacy,

while Chanchala and Shyamal
are really getting a new family.

And they don't seem
to be worried at all.

Will you take me?

Can he go to the Bondhu-project?

He has no clue where he belongs.
He lives in the brothel.

Take me, I will study.

You don't have family?
- No, nobody.

He has no-one?
- No.

Who is taking care of him now?

He's staying at somebody's
house and working.

Really?
- Yes.

Yes, then he can come.

You can pick him up
tomorrow at ten o'clock.

Then you come with me.

I will be here and
come out of this stable.

What's your name?
- Maruk.

Michael. Nice to meet you.

Can you take a picture of me?

Don't worry.

You'll have enough
time for taking pictures.

Nupur has built up
some debts during the

last few years,
which we just can't pay.

They are almost as high
as the costs for the kids' home.

Nupur thinks she
could pay part of it, if

she worked another
six months at the brothel.

She asks us to
finance a training

course in a beauty parlor.

It wasn't easy to find
somebody to train her.

But the combination of
Shyamal's connections and

the "white man with camera"
strategy made it happen.

We don't have many
clients in the mornings,

most of them come
in the afternoon.

It's the same in the brothel.
- At what time?

At three o'clock or
latest at half past four.

She can come at 10 o'clock.

OK. Very good.

She can start tomorrow.

It will be very busy tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the busy day?

Tomorrow, yes?

Their busy day, so...

She can come from the
day after tomorrow.

OK. They have busy
day here tomorrow?

Ah, OK, OK.
No, in the brothel.

OK, so the day after tomorrow.

Since she was 14, Nupur has been

living in the
brothel. Now we all

hope that in six months, a new

stage of life will
begin for her.

The last days of my stay,

and there is one
more journey to make.

Monica's family can't come

to the government
home to pick her up.

But the home management
makes an exception

and allows us to
drive her to her family.

As a farewell present from me,

the girls had asked for a
small karaoke machine.

Now they sing a
farewell song for Monica.

When I saw you the first time,

I thought you
were like my father.

Finally, Monica and her
brother are lying in each

other's arms for the
first time in four years.

I couldn't believe that
you were still alive.

I'll hide in your luggage
to come with you.

If he loves me,
he will take me with him.

If he doesn't, he won't.

You can tell him that I would
really love to take him with me,

but it's not possible,
it's against the law.

Believe me, he really loves you,

but the government won't
allow him to bring you.

That's not true. I will
travel in his luggage.

How will you do that?

Nobody can stop me,
I'll go with him.

How?

Bring me along
and I will make it.

How can I stay here?

Redoy decided not to leave his
sister alone in the brothel,

so he's not amongst
the boys who will

now move into the Bondhu home.

We had finally managed to rent a
little house.

Many of the boys have never met,

but all of them are eager

to help to make
it their new home.

If I had to guess
what Nupur would

ask for as a farewell present,

I would never have imagined
it would be a big teddy bear.

But I also would not
have imagined that one

could take three hours
to choose the right one.

She does not seem
completely happy.

I think it should be a bear,
she's seeing the bear,

and then she... her heart
jumps and says,

"Oh, I want that one."

All right, she likes this one?

Ask him if he likes it.

Do you like this one?
- Yes, I like it. I like him.

Are you lying or
telling the truth?

I'm so happy,
I would have never thought

that things could
change like that.

You know,
I lived in a dark place

and now there's light.

To be honest, I wonder
how all this happened to me.

What if I don't manage to
follow through with all this?

The journey that I have started,
will I be able to finish it?

Sometimes I get
scared. Will I make it?

I mean...

I don't know.

When I was a kid,
I had this dream,

that I would study

and take care of my
mother and my sisters.

So many things have happened...

Back then I was so full of hope.

When I say goodbye to Redoy,

he's still living in the
brothel.

It has not been possible
to liberate his sister yet.

Her Madam is too powerful.

He only allows me
to leave under the promise

that I will
come back in one year.

By then, he says,
he will also have grown a beard.

Redoy's sister
couldn't get free.

But they managed
to run off together.

For some years there
was no trace of them.

Recently I received
a message that

they had been seen in Faridpur.

I really hope to see
them on my next visit.

Nupur finished her job training.

Sometimes she
works as a cosmetician.

But she fell in love with a
staff member from the brothel

and hasn't made it
out of prostitution yet.

Hafeza reported
her Madam and her

human trafficker to the police.

Because of bribes, her
Madam wasn't punished.

But the trafficker is
in pre-trial custody.

Despite the hostilities
from the village community

Hafeza was readmitted
into her family.

Padma's parents allowed her to
come home after three months.

She lives with her family now.

The girls' situation
in the "safe home"

is improving very slowly.

Society and their
families consider

them as perpetrators
and not as victims.

This makes it
impossible for them to

have a free and
self-determined life.

Faridpur has now two homes
for kids from the brothels.

A Bondhu-home for 23
boys and one for 50 girls.

The kids are supervised
24/7 and go to school.

The homes are run by
Chanchala and Shyamal

with support from
the Bondhu-project.

We get in contact once a week.

Once a year I go to
Bangladesh to visit everyone.

Special thanks to the
women and girls in this movie

for sharing their story with us,

and their courage to
speak in front of the camera.