MACHINES

An unprecedented, immersive trip into the subterranean nightmare of a modern factory, set to a beguiling industrial symphony. Winner of the Sundance World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Excellence in Cinematography.

An eye-opening yet strangely mesmerising documentary like no other, the debut work by Delhi-born, US-trained filmmaker Rahul Jain takes its audience on a fly-on-the-wall tour of an enormous fabric factory in the Indian state of Gujarat, capturing a grim portrait of the dehumanising dance between man and machine.

Winding deep into the dark, labyrinthine heart of capitalism and the global economy, Jain's camera maintains a delicate observational distance, playing witness to the claustrophobic conditions and the rhythmic beauty of machines while evoking sympathy for the workers – some, like a young boy violently nodding to stay awake, barely into their teens. The spectacle is ingeniously scored to the clang, hiss and guttural rumblings of the factory itself, making for a viscerally immersive documentary experience in the vein of Manakamana (MIFF 2014) or Leviathan (MIFF 2013).

'Debutant director Rahul Jain displays an all-too-rare combination of artistic vision and social conscience.' – Hollywood Reporter