Slaves of the Empire received the Special Jury Award for Best Documentary Film at an international film festival.

The award was presented to the documentary, which highlights the lives of workers engaged in the grueling labor of lime processing since the colonial era, during the International Film Festival held at Kairali Sri Theatre, Chittur, Palakkad, from January 17 to 23. Over the week-long festival, around 80 films across various genres were screened.

The one-hour-long Slaves of the Empire was directed by Dr. Rajesh James, a faculty member at Sacred Heart College, Thevara. The film was produced by Binoy Varakil, Assistant Professor, Department of English, St. Joseph’s College, Devagiri,Kozhikode. Binoy Varakil is also a novelist who won the Abraham Lincoln International award from USA.

The International film festival competition was held in three categories:

1, Documentary Film

2, Short Film

3, Campus Film

The winners in each category were:

Best Campus Film: Akam

Best Documentary Film: Record Dance

Best Short Film: Thiruttumundam

The film "Slaves of the Empire" unfolds against the backdrop of colonial-era Fort Kochi, a picturesque town in Kerala, India. This evocative film delves deep into the ordinary existence of laundry workers who were enslaved by the Dutch during the colonial era. Through the captivating journeys of four central characters—Rajan, Pratti, Rajashekharan, and Selvaraj—the film paints a vivid portrait of their remarkable stories, depicting both their trials and triumphs.

This documentary film has so far been selected for 9 international film festivals in Greece, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA, and 5 international film festivals in India, where it won a special jury award.

This is the 5th film of director Dr. Rajesh James, the author of "India Retold," published by Bloomsbury, London.

Rajesh James is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and film researcher from Kochi, India. He was awarded the prestigious Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Filmmaker, India, in 2017. His documentary Naked Wheels won the K.F.Patil Unity in Diversity Award for Best Documentary Short at the Kashish International Queer Film Festival Mumbai in 2017. He was also awarded the PK Rossy Puraskaram for Best Documentary 2016 by Kerala Sthree Padana Kendram, Government of Kerala, at the International Feminist Film Festival of Kerala 2016. He has directed documentary films like In Thunder, Lightning and Rain (2018), Naked Wheels (2017), and Zebra Lines (2014).