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Paper short abstract

The article presents findings alongside the films produced during a year-long process of co-creating a film festival with the youth of Bhuj, India resulting in the formation of a youth collective amidst identity based divides in the city.

Paper long abstract

The article presents findings from a year-long process of co-creating and curating a film festival with 25 youth from a small city Bhuj, located in the western state of India. This article argues that the hyperindividualism associated with the young generation or the gen Z as they are called, is due to the lack of collectives, communities and spaces they can safely belong to. The Internet often becomes a space filling the void that their homes, neighbourhoods and cities can’t. In a city like Bhuj, where your caste and religion defines your everyday life, where could a divorced, Muslim, dropout like Sherbanu even cross paths or engage with an upper-caste Hindu male, student like Ashwin?

Through weekly gatherings, the youth came together to quietly uncover the city. Each week they learnt about the city by breaking it down into parts. Who carried the city’s waste? Where does their water come from? Or how food both unites and divides them. This process of discovery led to the formation of Kutch Yuva Navnirman Samaj (KYNS) grandly translated as "Kutch Youth Redevelopment Council," but it's often a space for newfound friendships and community—as they gently quietly notice what they truly want to transform.

We will also present 3 of the 14 films, collectively conceptualised, shot and edited by the youth. From lack of privacy for young muslim women, to asking who Bhuj belongs to, these films shed light on how the youth see themselves and their role in making and shaping their cities.