Moving through the corridors and bowels of an enormous and disorientating structure, the camera takes the viewer on a descent down to a dehumanized place of physical labor and intense hardship. This gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India might just as well be the decorum for a 21st century Dante’s Inferno. In his mind-provoking yet intimate portrayal, director Rahul Jain observes the life of the workers, the suffering and the environment they can hardly escape from. With strong visual language, memorable images and carefully selected interviews of the workers themselves, Jain tells a story of inequality, oppression and the huge divide between rich, poor and the perspectives of both.

Born in New Delhi, Rahul Jain grew up in various regions in India, such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. He recently graduated with a bachelor’s of fine arts in film and video from the California Institute of the Arts and is presently pursuing a writing MA in aesthetics and politics. He is interested in the ideas of distance, otherness, and the everyday. Machines marks his debut feature.