Documentary magazine is pleased to debut the official trailer for the remastered and expanded The Long Way Home, the 1989 music documentary from Michael Apted, who is best known for his Up series. This new 2026 version includes a “where are they now” epilogue featuring protagonist Boris Grebenshchikov, founder of the Russian band Aquarium.
The Long Way Home follows Grebenshchikov’s first trip to the West and journey to make an album in 1988, in the days following Glasnost, and features his meetings with producer Dave Stewart and star guest artists, including fellow Eurythmics member Annie Lennox.
The Long Way Home was commissioned by UK’s Granada TV (now ITV Studios) and played to critical acclaim at Sundance 1990. It follows Apted’s Bring on the Night (1985), his concert film on the making of Sting’s first solo album; his Loretta Lyne biopic Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980, with Sissy Spacek); and the first four entries in the Up series. The 4K remaster is based on the only surviving 16mm print and tapes with a 5.1 surround mix based on the original stereo mix.
The original pic was produced by Steven Lawrence, who later collaborated with Apted on Married in America (2002), co-produced by Jo Durden-Smith, and edited by Susanne Rostock. The new 14-minute epilogue, which was filmed this past spring after Apted’s death in 2021, is co-directed by Lawrence and Rostock.
“The Long Way Home ends on an optimistic note with Boris, believing that collaborations like his with Stewart were harbingers of a new era for Russia. Sadly, this hope was short-lived. Vladimir Putin’s rise to power ended the dreams of democracy and hundreds of thousands of freedom-loving Russians are now living in exile. Boris is one of them,” Lawrence says, explaining that Grebenshchikov’s criticism of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to his designation as a “foreign agent” and the banning of his music in Russia. Grebenshchikov left Russia for London, where he continues to record and perform around the world.
Also according to Lawrence: “The time feels right to re-release Michael’s eloquent documentary as a reminder of what might have been in Russia (and yet could be) and of the enduring power of music to raise spirits and resist tyranny and censorship. Thirty-six years after the film’s original release, we hope it also shines a new light on Boris as one of the most gifted and inspiring singer-songwriters of the last 50 years,” and will lead to the re-release of other unavailable Michael Apted documentaries and a retrospective of that work.
The remaster of The Long Way Home will premiere at MoMA’s To Save and Project on January 28, 2026, and is seeking distribution.
