Film By: Shoonya R, Maliha Sultan and Akash Gaur
Mentored By: Sanjiv Shah
City: Ahmedabad
The film looks at Manek Chowk, an urban space in the old city of Ahmedabad. Manek Chowk is known for its display of a vibrant food culture, which begins after sunset and transitions from the night’s darkness into the early morning hours. It captures the dynamic quality of the area that changes from a parking lot in the day time to a food market at night. The make-shift food vendors settle down every evening organically in the available space, reclaiming it.
The film showcases the everyday negotiations made in this space through physical bodies and objects within it. Capturing the narratives of various users of the chowk, it showcases the multiple ‘obstructions’ that become a part of its everyday life. Amidst the ephemeral romanticism lies the question of whose space and how it becomes irrelevant individually.