(L to R) Zainab, Aslam, Aabshaar & Shahid
Festival Hosts, Delhi
ZAINAB : I’m a member of Aagaaz Repertory and an artist-facilitator who works with the adolescent boys’ group from the community, I am currently also working as the Leader of the Library Programme. I am from Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin and also associated with Aagaaz from before its inception. My interest in film and photography as a medium runs deep. I am also the unofficial video/photo documentation person at almost all Aagaaz events.
ASLAM : I am a member of the Aagaaz Repertory and an artist-facilitator who works with the early years group from the community, I am currently also working as the Administrative Coordinator. I am from Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin and also associated with Aagaaz from before its inception.
AABSHAAR : I am a dance and movement practitioner. At Aagaaz I works with adolescent girls and women.
SHAHID : I am a member of Aagaaz Repertory and an artist-facilitator who works with the new children who start showing up at Khwāb Ghar until they are sorted into various groups. I am currently also working as the Retail Fundraiser. I am from Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin and also associated with Aagaaz from before its inception. I am He is deeply interested in the use of digital media for storytelling.
Khwab Ghar
Hosted by Zainab, Aslam, Aabshar & Shahid, Mentored by Sanyukta Saha
Delhi
This festival was a space for meaningful dialogue, where we come together as curators, participants, and audiences to explore what independence and social justice mean to us. Through films, sound art, and visual work, we celebrate the everyday stories of individuals and communities, highlighting their struggles, hopes, and triumphs. Our goal is to encourage reflection on how concepts like swatantra, samajaik nyay, and azadi play out in our daily lives.
As we gathered to mark the 77th Independence Day, we aimed to bridge the gap between personal experiences and broader social themes. Through facilitated conversations, we want our audience to connect deeply with the stories they see and to express their own relationship with these ideas. Audiences connected deeply with the stories they saw and expressed their own relationship with these ideas. By the end of the day, everyone left with a renewed sense of connection to our democratic values and the stories that shape them.
This festival isn’t just about watching films—it’s about engaging with the arts to build understanding, empathy, and a collective commitment to social justice.
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participants joined this festival, engaging in dialogue on independence, social justice, democracy, and unity.
Women from
Nizamuddin Basti, parents of the children who visit Aagaaz, adolescent girls & boys were part of the festival.
Festival Keywords
community stories, empathy through art, social justice, democracy
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Featured Story
One of the mothers who visits our center but has not been coming lately, came for the screening. Within 10 minutes of the screening and conversations she went home and brought her daughter to watch the films too. This was touching for two reasons, we of course were delighted to see her after a long time, but also because she thought that the films carried relevance for her daughter as much as it did for her, it made me think of shared connections between mother daughter and again the idea of watching a film together from time away from daily chores.
- Curatorial Team
