No Destination.
The epic journey of two young men with nothing to lose but the world itself.
Reel Soul Movies, British Film Institute, Illuminations Films, Resurgence & Ecologist... and YOU!
** Due to the current Coronavirus crisis and in solidarity with people across the world affected by it, we are no longer actively promoting our Crowdfunder. If you’d still like to donate, please do, otherwise, thank you for your interest! **
The New Estimated Delivery Date for Rewards is 4th May 2020.
50 years ago, at the height of the cold war, two young men walked from India to America to deliver packets of ‘peace tea’ to the leaders of the world’s four nuclear powers. They were inspired by the writings of Gandhi, and galvanised into action by the arrest, in Britain, of the peace campaigner Bertrand Russell.
They took no money, and vowed to use their feet alone to cross the 8,000 miles from Delhi to Washington. Dependent on the kindness of strangers, they aimed to prove that beneath the tensions and divisions of nation, politics and race, humanity binds us all with a common concord of understanding.
Their journey took them from desert sandstorms to imperial palaces, from humble tea workers to the offices of some of the most powerful people on earth. They walked through the bitter snows of a Russian winter, via riots in Paris, imprisonment, hunger strikes, to tea in the House of Commons with the genteel Clement Attlee. They arrived at the grave of John F Kennedy shortly after his assassination. They had walked from the tomb of one good man slain by a bullet to the grave of another. In that moment they understood that the quest for peace never ends but lives in every step of the journey.
‘No Destination’ is about the resilience of youth in the face of global calamity. It speaks of a respect for Mother Nature that, to this day, desperately needs to be rediscovered. Above all it demonstrates that the individual can bring about change, both to the world and to oneself, so long as we never give up.
‘No Destination’ is an epic adventure following the quest of a real-life contemporary hero to change the world.
Now Satish’s remarkable story of walking as a pilgrim across war zones, deserts, mountains and national borders, armed only with a message of peace, will be brought to the screen by Reel Soul Movies, in association with The British Film Institute, Illuminations Films and with the support of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine in the ‘No Destination’ feature film and we would love your support.
What’s unique about this project?
No Destination is the story of our time.
Satish’s story of walking 8,000-miles as a pilgrim for peace is the story of our time. As a film it has the potential to not only entertain, but reach out to a truly international audience. The story has real resonance and will appeal across borders, boundaries, countries, cultures, faiths and non-faiths and also across generations. The film will be both timely and timeless.
Satish’s story will make a great cinematic film, one that takes you on a journey – geographical, political and spiritual. It is a story of the heart and soul set at a time of massive international uncertainty and unrest, where the odds against people and planet are huge.
We need your help to move the ‘No Destination’ feature film from development into production.
‘The journey is not the destination, but every step you take along the way.’
Reel Soul Movies has been in funded development with our partners at the British Film Institute over the last 2 years. We now have the final script for the film and need to pull the production finance together, both from individuals, organisations and film industry sources. As Satish’s walk was itself reliant on the generosity, trust and kindness of regular people from across the world, we are now following in his footsteps and asking for your support.
What do we hope to achieve?
With the money raised from this Crowdfunding campaign, we will finish putting the Film Package together by:
- Securing the services of a Line Producer to do a fully itemised breakdown budget.
- Bring on board a Casting Director with an international eye and connections to cast the film, specifically, for our 2 main leads and the wonderful ‘small but perfectly formed’ cameo parts which will be played by known and loved character actors.
- Identify prospective international co-production partners and travel to meet them.
- Write, design, produce and deliver the Film Prospectus for our co-production partners, investors and those seeking an equity position in the film.
- Lock down the Sales Agent for the film and work with them to establish the film’s distribution plan.
- Spend time meeting & selecting key crew to develop the look and feel of the film focusing on sourcing the Director of Photography, Sound Designer, Composer, Production Designer and Editor.
- Employ a Location Manager to scout/recce key locations for the film’s shoot & establish what local incentives might be available for filming in these locations.
- Draw up the Financial Plan so the film is investment ready for equity investors and funders.
All funds remaining after the above expenses will be ring-fenced for the film shoot itself.
Why does this film matter?
Freedom from fear is the way to peace.
Recently, the story of ‘No Destination’ was told in a Radio 4 broadcast made by Reel Soul Movies. It was widely acclaimed, and seemed to touch a contemporary nerve, as fear, hatred and division rise once again to consume peoples and nations in apparently irreversible conflict. Satish’s story has never been so resonant, nor its message so urgent.
As Satish said, “Our journey is a journey of political protest against the bomb & against war, but it is also a sacred journey, an inner journey, a journey of self-purification & self-realisation.” These themes of inner reflection & outer action form the heart of the film.
‘We need peace within ourselves, peace with Planet Earth, and peace with other human beings.’
Who's involved?
Satish Kumar is our guiding light, consultant on the film and will feature in one scene.
Shelley Williams is the founder of Reel Soul Movies and producer/director of award-winning films that span both fiction and documentary. These films have screened in cinemas nationally, been broadcast on TV in the UK and overseas and opened international film festivals. She is the recipient of the Kodak Award, Arts Council National Lottery Awards, the Golden Gate Award and most recently, the Sandford St Martin Trust Award for the radio version of ‘No Destination’ that she made for BBC Radio 4. In November she was selected for the Creative England Enterprise ‘Industry Equals: Women in Screen’ Entrepreneurs programme. She has had the privilege of knowing and working with Satish since 2014.
Robin Mukherjee is a screenwriter. His work spans film and TV, features and series. He has both national and international commissions and credits to his name and his work stretches from art house cinema - in the esoteric tradition of Satyajit Ray - to mainstream television. His first feature film, ‘Swara Mandel’, (Dance of The Wind), premiered at The Venice Film Festival, was critically acclaimed worldwide and won many awards including the Audience Prize at the London Film Festival. His most recent film, ‘Lore’, was released to international acclaim, winning many awards including the Australian Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the Prix du Public at Locarno. It was Australia’s official entry for the American Academy Awards. Robin also teaches scriptwriting at Bath Spa University.
Keith Griffiths is an Executive Producer. He has a wealth of experience at Producer and Executive Producer level and has a track record for getting made some of the most original films of the last decades. These include Apichatpong Weerasethakul's latest film Cemetery of Splendour, Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio and Swara Mandel (Dance of the Wind) which was written by the No Destination writer Robin Mukherjee.
Lizzie Francke is Senior Producer and Development Executive at our partners, the British Film Institute (BFI), where she works exclusively on films in the BFI Film Fund. She has Executive Produced BFI films including ‘71’, The Selfish Giant, The Souvenir and The Riot Club. She is also an author and previously was Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Our supporters
“There could hardly be a more important message right now, so do whatever you can to get behind this project to turn it into a film which will inspire us all.”
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, award-winning writer, broadcaster, chef, founder of River Cottage.
“Inspiring examples of selfless acts for the earth are needed more than ever. I feel many are tired of nothing but money as a motive. This is a movie for our time.”
Mary Colwell, broadcaster, environmentalist & author.
“If there is any journey that embodies and inspires the sort of change the world needs now, it’s Satish Kumar’s.”
Leo Johnson, environmental economist, broadcaster, co-presenter of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Future-proofing’ series.
Our Rewards
£10 or more : Footsteps for Peace – Sponsor each mile.
Walk in Satish’s footsteps by sponsoring each mile of his 8000-mile journey from New Delhi to Washington D.C. Each pledge of £10 is one mile for peace.
During the campaign we will publish and update an online, interactive map of Satish’s walk, plotting the position of every sponsor’s pledge along the way. Also every pledge can receive a digital 'Footsteps for Peace' thank-you certificate of their sponsored miles.
Footsteps for Peace Map is now Live!
Visit https://www.reelsoulmovies.com/footsteps-for-peace-map to see your sponsored miles, retrace Satish's route and find out fascinating facts, figures and events that happened along the way!
£15 or more : Limited edition ‘No Destination’ Peace Tea.
Enjoy a packet of limited edition ‘No Destination’ Peace Tea, uniquely blended by the Tea House Emporium of Bath.
The package includes 100gm of Organic Ayurvedic loose leaf herbal tea and a stainless steel tea Infuser. The Peace Tea blend includes organic cinnamon, organic ginger, organic cloves, organic black peppercorns and is caffeine free.
£20 or more : Plant a tree in the 'No Destination' Grove.
Plant a tree for the future in the dedicated ‘No Destination’ Grove in the Scottish Highlands with Trees for Life.
Transform bare hillsides into healthy young woodlands rich in wildlife, protected for future generations, mitigate the effects of climate change and celebrate Satish’s walk for peace. We hope to plant up to 8,000 trees; one for each mile of the walk.
£40 or more : A one year Membership to The Resurgence Trust.
You’ll receive six issues of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine starting with their March/April 2020 issue.
Resurgence & Ecologist offers positive perspectives on a range of engaging topics covering ecology, social justice, philosophy, spirituality, sustainable development and the arts - an eclectic mix that cannot be found anywhere else.
£50 or more : New Extended Edition of ‘No Destination’ Book.
No Destination: Autobiography of a Pilgrim by Satish Kumar, with a personalised dedication and signed by Satish.
Written with a penetrating simplicity, this book is an exhilarating account of an extraordinary life, including Satish’s 8,000-mile Peace Pilgrimage around the world (hardback edition, 2014).
£100 or more : Lunch with top Environmentalist, Mary Colwell.
Join top environmentalist, author & broadcaster Mary Colwell, for a 2-course vegetarian lunch in Bristol. Mary writes on nature, conservation & climate change. Her latest book ‘Curlew Moon’ has been described by the Guardian as “an odyssey for an age of extinction”. She was lead producer on the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 'Shared Planet' & 'Saving Species'. We'll announce the date for lunch in late April.
£150 or more : Exclusive Reception with Satish Kumar.
Come to an exclusive reception in London to meet Satish & to hear him interviewed around the themes of ‘Finding Peace in Every Step’ by BBC ‘Future-proofing’ presenter & broadcaster Leo Johnson. Drinks & nibbles will be provided. We'll announce the date for this event end of April 2020.
£1000 or more : A special 'Thanks to...' Feature film end credits for indivduals.
We welcome support from like minded individuals that share the same values of Satish's walk for peace.
We'll add a special 'Thanks to..' dedication to such individuals in the feature film end credits.
£5000 or more : A special 'Thanks to...' Feature film end credits for businesses.
We welcome support from ethical companies and organisations that share in the values of Satish's walk for peace. We'll add a special 'Thanks to..' dedication to such supportive organisations in the feature film end credits.
Please give what you can and let’s make this project happen! Thank you.
If you would like to come on board the film to become an Equity Investor with a recoupment position, this is available at investments of £50,000 and above. Please contact Shelley Williams of Reel Soul Movies directly to discuss. The Film Prospectus and the Finance Plan will be available January 2020. [email protected]
Alongside an equity position we can also offer Associate and Co-Producer credits.