In-Competition: “Kusunda” is an interactive virtual reality experience about the endangered Kusunda language in western Nepal. Co-created by Lil Bahadur, a shaman who speaks Kusunda, and his granddaughter Hima, this intergenerational story invites you to support the challenging task of revitalising a dormant indigenous language. The Kusunda language has been categorised by linguists as a language isolate, meaning it’s unrelated to any other language family of the world. The Kusunda call themselves the Kings of the Fores” due to their nomadic lifestyle, and there are estimately only 150 people in Nepal who identify as Kusunda. Lil Bahadur lost his mother tongue when he gave up his hunter-gatherer lifestyle to settle in the village. His granddaughter Hima is a bright teenager detached from her grandfather’s hunter-gatherer identity and represents a different Kusunda identity. Hima is taking on the challenge to revive her mother tongue, preserving the existence and identity of the Kusunda people in Nepal.