United For Change
Cycling Towards a Brighter Future
Official Nominee - UK Asian Film Festival 2026
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Official Nominee - UK Asian Film Festival 2026 〰️
United for Change: Cycling Towards a Brighter Future is a documentary about what can happen when people choose to do something rather than look the other way. The film follows a group of riders taking on more than 500km from Mumbai to Goa, but the journey on the road is only one part of the story. At its heart are the children, families and schools we encountered along the way, and the reality that something as basic as education, clean water or a working toilet can completely change the direction of a child’s life.
The Film
Who We Made It For
The film was created around a charity initiative bringing together Your One Wish, One Kind Act and Yuva Unstoppable, with a shared purpose of creating better opportunities for disadvantaged children in India.
The work went beyond fundraising, supporting improvements to education, sanitation, clean water and school facilities. What mattered was showing the human reason behind that work, rather than simply documenting the money being raised or the miles being ridden.
How It Began
What began as a film following a 500km charity cycle from Mumbai to Goa quickly became something much bigger. As we spent time in Mumbai and entered communities where families were living with very little, it became clear that the most important story was not simply the physical challenge of the riders. It was the contrast between people voluntarily pushing themselves through discomfort to help, and children and families facing difficult choices every day simply because of where they were born.
Behind the Lens
We wanted the film to feel close to the people whose stories we were being trusted to tell, so much of our approach was about listening and adapting rather than arriving with everything predetermined.
Manny directed and led the cinematography alongside Krystian, while Taz handled production, logistics and translation, helping us build the trust needed to have deeper conversations with local families.
Filming inside small homes and busy communities brought challenges with space, sound and lighting, while the cycle itself meant constantly moving across India with a deliberately lean setup.
Raj then brought those different strands together in the edit, finding the emotional connection between the riders’ physical journey and the lives of the people they were riding for.
The Finished Film
The initiative ultimately raised over £200,000, helping support projects focused on education, sanitation and opportunities for disadvantaged children. For us, though, the impact of the film went beyond the fundraising figure. United for Change was officially selected for the UK Asian Film Festival, taking stories we had first encountered inside communities in Mumbai and putting them in front of a cinema audience in the UK. More than anything, the film became a reminder that behind every fundraising target is a real person, a family and a future that can be changed when somebody decides to help.