Documentary
Akash Sagar Chopra’s documentary ‘Walking With M’ wins four awards across the film festival circuit in Europe
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.
Documentary
Netflix and Warner Music ink landmark documentary deal
The streaming giant has just unlocked one of the richest vaults in music history. Its rivals should be worried
CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK: Netflix and Warner Music Group have signed an exclusive multi-year deal to produce documentary series and films drawn from the label’s storied artist roster, the companies announced on Friday — a move that hands the streaming platform access to one of the most formidable catalogues in music history.
Warner Music Group represents legends including David Bowie, Cher, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin and Joni Mitchell, alongside contemporary superstars such as Charli XCX, Coldplay and Bruno Mars. That is a staggering breadth of material for a platform hungry for prestige content and subscriber growth to match.
Under the agreement, Warner Music will work with Unigram, the production company aligned with the label, which will serve as the studio for its long-form projects. Each title will be developed in collaboration with the artists themselves or their estates, ensuring the kind of intimate access that turns a documentary into an event.
The deal reflects an intensifying race between music-rights owners and streaming platforms eager to turn deep catalogues into premium visual content. Music documentaries have become a vehicle for fan-driven, culturally resonant programming — a trend underscored by Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” film, which grossed over $260 million globally and reminded every platform chief just how lucrative the genre can be.
Netflix already boasts formidable credentials in music storytelling, with “Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé” and “Quincy” among its highest-profile releases. The Warner deal sharpens that edge considerably. Rival platforms have not been idle: Disney+ has released “The Beach Boys”, while Max has drawn attention with “Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.” Apple Music, meanwhile, has pushed into original content through its Apple Music Live series, producing documentaries and livestreamed concerts featuring Harry Styles and Billie Eilish.
The battle for music’s visual soul, then, is well and truly on. Netflix has just made its boldest move yet.
