KUSUNDA

KUSUNDA is a voice-driven virtual reality (VR) experience about the sleeping Kusunda language in western Nepal. Co-created by Kusunda shaman Lil Bahadur and his granddaughter Hima, this intergenerational story invites you to support the challenging task of revitalising a dormant indigenous language.

Lil Bahadur lost his mother tongue when he gave up his hunter gatherer lifestyle to settle in the village. “I spoke the Kusunda language until I was eighteen years old. After [my parents] died the language slowly faded away. I forgot Kusunda when I was separated from my group and had to travel alone. Later I met other people and started speaking Nepali,” he says with a sense of resignation.

Hima, a bright teenager detached from her grandfather’s hunter-gatherer identity, represents a different Kusunda identity and is taking on the challenge of reviving her mother tongue. “If the Kusunda language disappears then the existence of the Kusunda people in Nepal will also fade away. We’ll lose our identity. That’s why I want to save our language.”

HOW TO ACCESS

You will need a VR ready PC and an HTC Vive/Pro/Pro2 or an Oculus Rift/Rift S/Quest + Link to access the experience on Viveport.

ABOUT THE CREATORS

Gayatri Parameswaran is an award winning writer, director and producer of immersive works. She was born and raised in India and is currently based in Berlin, where she co-founded NowHere Media -- a storytelling studio that views contemporary issues through a critical lens. Her work has been exhibited at the Venice International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, Festival de Cannes, HotDocs, United Nations and beyond. She is a Sundance New Frontier alumnus, has won the ‘Storyscapes Award for Best Immersive’ at Tribeca, ‘Best Use of Immersive Arts’ at SXSW and the Lumiere Award for ‘Best VR documentary’ among other accolades. Gayatri is a guest lecturer at universities such as the Freie Universität (FU) Berlin, Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft (HMKW), Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and Züricher Hochschule der Kunst (ZHdK).

Felix Gaedtke is an acclaimed immersive storyteller and creative producer currently based in Berlin. He co-founded the immersive storytelling studio NowHere Media with an urge to create spaces for under-represented voices in mainstream discourses. His passion to convey different realities across the world has led him to working with VR and AR storytelling techniques. His most recent work KUSUNDA takes you into the lives of an indigenous group in Nepal and their fight for language reclamation. KUSUNDA recently won the prestigious Storyscapes Award at Tribeca Film Festival. He is a Sundance New Frontier alumnus and has also won ‘Best Use of Immersive Arts’ at SXSW as well as the Lumiere Award for ‘Best VR documentary’ among other accolades. Felix’s immersive works have been exhibited at the Venice International Film Festival, SXSW, Cannes XR, the UN, HotDocs, Bergen International Film Festival and beyond.

CREDITS

Director and Producer: Felix Gaedtke and Gayatri Parameswaran

Co-creators: Gyani Maiya Kusunda, Hima Kusunda and Lil Bahadur Kusunda

Interactive VR documentary | Runtime: 20-25 mins | Platform: Viveport | Compatible headsets: HTC Vive/Pro/Pro2 and Oculus Rift/Rift S/Quest + Link

Award nomination: Best Documentary Experience