They are cinephiles. Amateurs who grew up on the red-light streets of the ever-lively Kalighat district in Kolkata. They film dramas, stage epic pimp quarrels and re-imagine the sex trade they know first-hand. Meena, Afsara, Bilkis, Rabin and others have founded a film group called CAM-ON and learned the basics of filmmaking through YouTube tutorials. They grew up with prostitution as the family trade and are obsessed with films. To be fair, instead of the conventions of Bollywood cinema they are interested in self-reflection on what they know – something that creates friction in conservative society. These partisans of the moving image firmly believe that one day, on the very streets where the sex workers of Kolkata sold themselves, they might sell the dream of cinema.

In the YouTuber age, when filmmaking has become more democratic than democracies, this documentary by Basu is a passion-driven odyssey. Not quite slumdog millionaires – more like romantic midnight cowboys or Nana, the cinema-obsessed prostitute from Godard’s Vivre sa vie (1962) – they use socially critical filmmaking to turn away from what they know too well – poverty, inequality and flesh trade. Indian-born director Basu approaches cinema as a social phenomenon: this transnational medium can be a way to break free from generational cycles, achievable with like-minded companions who relish every moment of shooting. Screened at Sheffield DocFest, the piece focuses on cameramen, directors, screenwriters, actors, lighting technicians, extras, and the family-like film crew embodies the infectious conviction that may well save them. The film was produced by the Latvian film studio VFS Films.