The Market
The Market
Rama Rau / Canada / 2010 / 70 min.
In India, selling one's kidneys on the black market in an effort to keep the wolf from the door is not uncommon, even though it is against the law. Demand is rising, with Western clients paying 60,000 dollars for healthy organs. However, the "donors" receive at most 200 dollars, money which immediately goes on paying late school fees or reconstruction bills after a devastating tsunami. Director Ramu Rau focuses her camera on two women: Hema, from India, who is trying to sell a kidney through her sister; and Sandra, a Canadian whose mother and daughter are helping her find a suitable donor via the Internet. Hema undergoes an examination prior to the operation, and attempts to agree on a price for her organ. Meanwhile, Sandra and her family are confronted by the reality of an Indian slum, where selling a body part is often the only way people can keep their heads above water. The Canadian woman must weigh saving her own health againts the cost of endangering the life of another.