Actual People: Do We Understand Youth? Kit Zauhar is a young American filmmaker making her debut in cinema. In “Actual People,” she depicts the adolescent crisis of Generation Z, caught between their thirst for freedom and the realities of adult life.
Actual People: Do We Understand Youth?
Gone are the days of the Sex, Drugs & Rock’n’Roll generation portrayed by Bret Easton Ellis in “The Rules of Attraction.” The exaggerated cynicism and nihilism of the 90s generation have given way to a revolutionary Generation Z, already the driving force behind two social revolutions (#Metoo, #Blacklivesmatter), yet struggling to adapt to adult life. Saez, in his time, through his popular anthem “Jeunes et cons,” refused to become “old and mad.”
The film’s plot is quite straightforward. A young woman leaves her small town to settle in New York. She is quickly dumped by her boyfriend and ends up cohabitating with a journalist who is too old for his age. She wanders around New York with friends as wild as herself, feels out of place at university, and is unsure about what to do with her life, typical of an ideologically aimless youth. The wandering, beautifully directed by Kit
Zauhar, who is also the lead actress in the film, suggests that a new Gregg Araki could emerge from this talented director.
