An intensely evocative and hypnotic representation of textile factory workers in India’s Gujarat region and a deeply political message for worker's rights.
2016 · 1h15m · Finland, Germany, India
Hindi
English subs
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About the Film
Exhausted labourers in a gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India, are trapped in an oppressive cycle of poverty. A roving camera captures their harrowing experience deep in the factory’s surreal bowels, a disorienting and labyrinthine series of corridors of rusted machinery. A visceral journey, MACHINES is composed of striking, wordless sequences and intimate exchanges with the workers, who remain stoic in the face of their difficult conditions. Some have travelled from afar to support their families and cling to the job despite its low wages and unreasonable 12-hour shifts. Some even work double shifts, with just an hour in between to eat or nap. With so few options available, they’re stuck with the hardship of slave-like work, their plight illuminating the dehumanizing impact of rapid and unregulated industrialization and pointing to larger shifts in Western India and the world.
Upcoming Screenings
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Festivals and Awards
Sundance Film Festival, World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Excellence in Cinematography
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, International Jury Award
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Human Values Award of the Hellenic parliament
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Fipresci Award
IDFA, Producer’s Award
Sofia International Film Festival
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