Mumbai: Filmmaker and producer Akash Sagar Chopra’s highly acclaimed and award winning documentary, "Walking With M" is a ground-breaking feature and a global documentary event, that has garnered honours at various international film festivals.
The film made with over 1500hrs of archival footage has received the Best Documentary Award (Berlin FFI) at Milan Italy, The Global Peace and Harmony Award at The International Film Festival The Hague, Out-standing Achievement Award at the Swedish International Film Festival, and has also won the prestigious Honorable Mention Award at the Athens International Monthly Film Festival in Athens, Greece.
With a runtime of one hour and 37 minutes, ‘Walking with M’ is based on the Walk of Hope 2015 movement, a peace march led by author and educationist Mumtaz Ali (Sri M, recipient of the Padmabhushan Award 2020), as he and a group of 100 co-walkers walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, in the year 2015.
Seven years in making, the film tells the incredible story of Sri M’s ardoulous 7500km journey on foot, emphasizing the change within the individual as a true catalyst for societal change. Told through a gripping narrative, the film covers a journey of 474 days, across India’s di-verse landscape.
Receiving immense praise and acclaim across its screenings in Milan, Athens and across the Euro-pean Film Festival Circuit, the film has also garnered nominations for Best Director of a Documentary, Best Editing of a Documentary, and The Historical Interest Award at Film Fest International (Berlin FFI) Milan, Italy. It has also been selected as a Finalist at the Scandinavian International Film Awards (Cameo Awards Gala).
The documentary has also been selected and screened at renowned film festivals across Asia and other parts of Europe including Film South Asia (Nepal), Paradise Film Festival(Budapest, Hungary), and The Stockholm City Film Festival and it had its UK premiere with two screenings at the prestigious Garden Cinemas in London.
The film also premiered in Fremont, a part of the Bay Area near San Francisco, USA with three shows running at a full house capacity back-to-back, with a demand for more.
Closer home, the first Indian screening after the global festival circuit held at The Royal Opera House in Mumbai where the film received a seven-minute standing ovation.
Speaking about the documentary, film maker Sagar Pictures Entertainment CEO Akash Sagar Chopra said, "It's heartwarming to witness widespread resonance with our documentary. It's a collective effort offering an immersive glimpse into the Walk of Hope movement. We're thrilled by its universal reception and global acclaim across numerous countries."
Sagar Pictures Entertainment, the Indian distribution partner of the film, has announced that the film has now been taken up for distribution in North America. It will also be dubbed in various Indian languages, for community screening tours across various Indian cities.
