March for Justice
2014
Documentary
88 Min
Hundreds and thousand of Indian men and women - indigenous inhabitants and landless farmers – demand their right to existence by making a 400 kilometre protest march. «Millions Can Walk» focuses on their violence-free fight for their rights –a political yet philosophical and poetic film.
Hundreds of thousands of Indian men and women, landless farmers and the Adivasis – Indian aborigines – underway on foot. On dusty roads, on the National Highway, through villages and cities. Large-scale exploitation of mineral resources, the construction of immense plantations and tremendous infrastructure projects have resulted in the fact that these people have been and still are being driven from their homes and robbed of their peaceful existence. Now they have come together from all across the land to fight for an honourable existence. Led by the charismatic Rajagopal, leader and pioneer of the movement. Their protest march leads from Gwalior to Delhi - 400 kilometres away. They endure the heat, defy illnesses, and take on hardship and deprivation. Because one thing is clear to them: they will persevere and only return home once the government heeds their demands. It is as if the poor and oppressed of the whole world are rising up and speaking out. And energetically pointing out that they are not willing to accept the violation of their rights. Their march, based on the idea of Gandhi’s philosophy of passive resistance, will go down in history and will be covered by the most important international media. The world can no longer look away. How can one fight for one’s rights without using violence? With such an important contemporary question, the film of Christoph Schaub and Kamal Musale spreads far beyond the borders of India. It shows the multiple facets of this imposing protect march, plunges into what is happening along the way. And it focuses over and over again on some of the participants and their fateful stories as well as the into daily realities of these proud people. «Millions Can Walk» is a militant yet philosophical and emotional film with surprising pictures of great metaphorical power. It is captivating to the very end: Will these men andwomen be successful? Will the government fulfil their demands?
Director
Christoph Schaub,
Kamal Musale
Producer
Franziska Reck, Reck Film
Associate Producer
Kamal Musale
Cinematographer
Lorenz Merz,
Kamal Musale
Editor
Marina Wernli
Sound Editor
Balthasar Jucker
Composer
Peter Bräker
Filmfestival Solothurn, Switzerland
Mumbai International Film Festival, India
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece
International Filmfestival Fribourg, Switzerland
Festival del Cinema Africano, d’Asia e America Latina Milano, Italy
Internationals Film Festival Innsbruck, Austria
Brave Filmfestival, Poland
Indian Filmfestival Stuttgart, Germany
Filmambiente Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
World Filmfestival Thusis, Switzerland
Independent Film Festival, Sudan
International Human Rights Filmfestival Paris, France
Extravagant India !, France
Award for Best Documentary at Indian Filmfestival Stuttgart, Germany