Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Award winning film spotlights plight of India's textile workers

It was a childhood memory of time spent at his grandfather's textile mill in Gujarat that inspired Indian film student Rahul Jain to focus on the rhythm of factory life for his first documentary.

Although Jain did not set out to make a political film, his award-winning feature "Machines" is attracting international attention for its depiction of the squalor and human suffering underpinning the global garment industry.


This month the documentary opened the Copenhagen Fashion Summit where heads of leading clothing brands, charities and policy makers met to discuss ethical and sustainable fashion.

"Machines" shows men and children working slave-like shifts for paltry wages in conditions where they are exposed to damaging levels of noise and intense heat.

"The workers were poor, sick and they coughed a lot. Many had a hearing problem," said Jain, a student at the prestigious California Institute of the Arts.

The machine noise the workers are exposed to is like a soundtrack running throughout the film.

"Workers use headphones and play loud music to lock out the sound (of the machines), but that actually causes more damage," Jain told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Los Angeles.

"Their lungs are damaged as they breathe fine silica dust, also very fine carbon particles."

The 25-year-old director, who grew up in Delhi, spent nearly six months spread over three years filming inside a factory in the city of Surat, the capital of India's textile industry, in the western state of Gujarat.

Workers told how they earned less than £2.31 for shifts of 12 hours or more.

"When I arrive at the gate for work, I feel like turning back right there," says one child who puts in 12 hours every day.

But the boy says he won't leave because he believes he is more likely to learn skills as a child than he would as an adult.

The film ends with workers asking Jain to take up their demand for eight-hour shifts.

Jain said that while "Machines" was never intended as a piece of activism, he hoped the government would take action to help the textile workers.

Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers toil in Surat's numerous weaving, dying and printing factories.

Fabrics manufactured in the city are exported around the world, ending up in everything from high street fashions to school uniforms.

"Machines" was filmed in a factory employing 1,500 workers, including children. The camera follows them as they go about their tasks. Some are seen napping on piles of fabric.

Workers interviewed in the film appeared wary of speaking about their lives. One told how he had travelled 990 miles to work at the factory, but said he was not exploited and did the work out of choice.

Jain said the factory jobs took a heavy physical toll with illnesses common and workers mostly quitting by the time they are 50.

He said a doctor made twice-weekly visits to the factory to give medicines including multi-vitamins and vitamin D shots to the workers.

"Machines", which won an award for its cinematography at this year's Sundance Film Festival, is already on release in Britain and will premiere in India later this year.

Jain said screenings were being planned in the country's most densely-populated factory towns.

"I hope deep down that (the film) is used to show the government what it does not wish to see," he added.

More For You

Court to review teen's sentence in Bhim Kohli case
Bhim Kohli

Court to review teen's sentence in Bhim Kohli case

THE seven-year prison sentence handed to a 15-year-old boy convicted of the manslaughter of 80-year-old Bhim Sen Kohli is to be reviewed under the UK’s Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.

The Attorney General’s Office confirmed on Friday (5) that the teenager’s sentence will now be considered by the Court of Appeal.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dalai Lama hopes to live 'beyond 130 years'

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama attends a prayer meet held for his long life at the Dalai Lama temple in the northern hill town of Dharamshala, India, July 5, 2025. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

Dalai Lama hopes to live 'beyond 130 years'

THE Dalai Lama said on Saturday (5) he hopes to live until he is more than 130 years old, two decades longer than his previous prediction, following his assurance to followers that he would reincarnate as the spiritual head of the faith upon his death.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was speaking during a ceremony organised by his followers to offer prayers for his long life, ahead of his 90th birthday on Sunday (6), and as China insists it will choose his successor. The Dalai Lama told Reuters in December he might live to 110.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK heatwave by mid-July

Daytime temperatures meeting or exceeding set thresholds of 25°C

iStock

Met Office warns of potential third UK heatwave by mid-July

Key points

  • Met Office forecasts rising temperatures by mid-July
  • Possible third heatwave after record-breaking June
  • High pressure system likely to bring hot air from the Atlantic
  • Yellow rain warning and flood alerts issued in parts of Scotland and Cumbria

Possible heatwave to return by mid-July

The UK could experience its third heatwave in a month by mid-July, the Met Office has said. Forecasters expect rising heat and humidity during the second weekend of July, following two weekends of unusually warm weather in late June.

June was officially the hottest on record in England, and the return of high temperatures could mean another heatwave for parts of the country. However, the Met Office cautioned that it is too early to confirm how hot conditions will get.

Keep ReadingShow less
crypto

Two men have been jailed for defrauding investors of £1.5 million through a fake crypto investment scheme. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Two jailed over £1.5m crypto investment scam

TWO people who duped investors of £1.5 million by selling fake investments in crypto have been jailed for 12 years, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said.

Raymondip Bedi, of Bromley, and Patrick Mavanga, of Peckham, conned at least 65 people by cold-calling them between February 2017 and June 2019. They operated companies including CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP.

Keep ReadingShow less
Manchester Police probes over 1,000 child sexual abuse suspects

Photo for representation. (iStock)

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Manchester Police probes over 1,000 child sexual abuse suspects

GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE is now investigating more than 1,000 child sexual abuse suspects, following years of public criticism and institutional failings in tackling child sexual exploitation.

A new report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has revealed the force has made “significant improvements” in dealing with group-based sexual abuse and related crimes.

Keep ReadingShow less