Filmmaker Payal Kapadia Wins Grand Prix Prize at Cannes Film Festival

By: WE Staff | Monday, 27 May 2024

Filmmaker Payal Kapadia has created history by becoming the first Indian director to win the prestigious Grand Prix prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Her Malayalam-language movie "All We Imagine as Light" won the prestigious honor, which is the second-most prestigious award, after the Palme d'Or.

Payal’s movie “All We Imagine as Light" was the first Indian film to be featured in the main competition in the last 30 years. Screened on Thursday, it is also the only movie made by an Indian female director to reach the top spot.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Payal said, "I'm very nervous, so I wrote something down. Thank you to the Cannes Film Festival for having our film here. Please don't wait 30 years to have another Indian film. This film is about friendship, about three very different women. Oftentimes, women are pitted against each other. This is the way our society is designed and it is really unfortunate. But for me, friendship is a very important relationship because it can lead to greater solidarity, inclusivity, and empathy," said Kapadia, who was accompanied by the three actors on the stage.”

“All We Imagine as Light," is a Malayalam-Hindi movie that follows protagonist Prabha, a nurse whose world is turned upside down after receiving an unexpected gift from her long-estranged husband. Anu, her roommate, tries to find a private space in the busy city.

The movie is Payal’s first feature directorial. Payal is an alumna of the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII). “A Night of Knowing Nothing", a documentary by Payal premiered at Director’s Fortnight in 2021 and won the Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) award.