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Logline

In November, for over a year, hundreds of thousands of farmers laid siege to India’s national capital, Delhi, protesting against three new farm laws. What became the world’s largest farmers’ movement eventually led to the repeal of these laws, significantly influencing India’s public discourse on economic development, ecology, and social justice.

Synopsis

Between November 2020 and December 2021, over half a million farmers occupied Delhi’s borders in protest against three new agricultural laws, collectively known as the Farm Laws of 2020. Through individual narratives of protesters and collective experiences, the documentary series A Million Churnings explores this watershed moment in Indian politics—the farmers’ movement that reshaped the course of India’s socio-economic and political landscape.

Perched on tractor-trolleys, trucks, cars, two-wheelers, and on foot, hundreds of thousands of farmers from Delhi’s surrounding states attempted to march into the capital. They occupied four major highways bordering the national capital, which eventually became their protest sites—Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur, and Shahjahanpur.

Tractor-trolleys became makeshift homes. Langars, or community kitchens, fed thousands daily. Tents offering medical services and libraries sprang up. The protest sites turned into cities within the city. India was witnessing one of its most resolute yet peaceful movements.

What began as resistance to three new farm laws soon sparked ‘a million churnings’ in the participating states. These churnings brought caste, gender, religious harmony, federalism, regional unity, corporate power, and the consequences of the Green Revolution into public debate, reshaping how agrarian life and justice were understood. Beyond compelling an unyielding government to retreat, the movement also provoked deep introspection and reflection within—an invaluable legacy for the future.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Nakul Singh Sawhney — Producer/Director
Nakul is an independent documentary filmmaker based in India. His films focus on politics, religious strife and violence, human rights, labour rights and social justice in South Asia. He won the Indian Documentary Producers’ Association (IDPA) Silver Award as Best Director for his feature length film Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai/Muzaffarnagar Eventually. The film explored the impact on religious sectarian violence on the Indian General Elections in 2014. As a result, he faced physical attacks and several threats for his work. His other films including Immoral Daughters in the Land of Honour and Savitri’s Sisters have been screened globally. He is also a founder of an award winning film and media collective in rural North India called ChalChitra Abhiyaan / Moving Images Campaign. It takes international cinema to the hinterlands and trains the marginalised communities to make their own films. He also teaches filmmaking and film appreciation.

Apal Singh — Cinematographer
Apal is a graduate from MCRC, Jamia. Over two decades, he has worked as a freelance cinematographer, and has shot documentaries, fiction feature films, and wildlife films working in almost forty countries. Apal has shot at least fifty feature length documentary films on various subjects including social and political issues. Many of these films have received international awards. England’s Guild of Television Camera Professionals recognized his camerawork for the BBC documentary, The Last Train to Nepal, with an award for Best Cinematography of the Year (2016). He also shot The Price of Free, a feature length documentary which was produced by Davis Guggenheim about the Nobel Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi, it won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival (2018). Apal has shot fiction feature films that have been theatrically released and screened at major international film festivals. Apal shot for To the Moon, a 2020 Irish experimental documentary directed by Tadhg O’Sullivan.

Amulya Aphale — Editor
Amulya is a film editor passionate about storytelling and visual expression. With six years of experience, he has worked across fiction and non-fiction films, advertising films, and digital media content. Currently, he is editing a feature-length documentary, focusing on shaping its narrative in a meaningful way.

Vidhaat Raman — Sound
Vidhaat is a trained sound designer and film professional with credits in the Academy Award winning The Elephant Whisperers, Academy nominated The White Tiger, domestic films like LSD2 and Fukrey 3, web shows like Mirzapur, Unpaused and a plethora of ads and documentaries both regional and international. A graduate of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, he has spent the last few years working in various film and video formats in various capacities.

Faiza Ahmad Khan — Co-Producer
Faiza is a documentary film director and producer based in Delhi with an interest in community media and archival practices. Her first documentary, Supermen of Malegaon has won several awards internationally and had a successful theatrical release in India. Faiza’s documentary films have screened on several channels worldwide including Al Jazeera, Arte and Channel 4.

Shoa Hussain — Executive Producer
Shoa is a dynamic and versatile creative producer with a proven track record in the international film and audio-visual industries. With experience spanning multiple roles and genres, Shoa has excelled in delivering compelling narratives across various mediums, including extensive production of high-quality content for Audible, and directing English dubs for films and series.

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Contact

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