Dollar City

Dollar City

Dir: Amudhan R.P.
77 min; Tamil with English subtitles; 2016; Documentary
Produced by Raj Kajendra

Synopsis:

Tirupur aka Dollar City, well known for its thousands of export oriented garment hosiery units and millions of migrant workers, symbolizes a development model where the state machinery, exporters, small and big entrepreneurs, commission agents, trade unionists and workers converge to prioritize export and to earn dollars by ignoring, marginalizing and eventually breaking the laws that protect the environment and workers’ rights.

The film provides an inside view of a successful economic system where there is connivance and consensus between the masters, mediators and the workers, where the ambitions and loyalties collapse, where the rights become a privilege, where duty becomes an opportunity and where one’s desperation is another’s prospect.

The fact that there has not been a workers’ strike in Tirupur in the past 20 years, as proudly expressed by an exporter in the film, can be seen as classic example of the Gramscian idea of manufacture of consent.

Camera: Amudhan R.P.
Editing: Amudhan R.P. & Thangaraj
Music: RaGa
Research: Pushpa Achanta
Stills : Bharathi Vasan
Subtitles: Meghna Sukumar, Mini Hari & Sara Abraham
FreeFall Films