Begging for Life investigates the world of organised and informal begging in the 21st century, asking what lies behind a practice seen daily on streets across the world, yet so often ignored, criminalised or pushed out of sight. The film looks beyond easy assumptions about poverty and charity to examine how different societies respond to those who beg, and what their presence reveals about inequality, migration, exploitation and survival.
Following Al Jazeera correspondent Barnaby Phillips and producer Karim Shah, the film travels in search of the human stories behind begging: those driven by desperation, those caught in wider systems of control, and those navigating the uneasy relationship between public compassion and official hostility.
Made by Karim Shah in collaboration with People & Power producer Eki Rrahmani, the film forms part of their wider body of work together for Al Jazeera English.
