All we Imagine as Light Payal Kapadia

Payal Kapadia’s debut narrative feature All We Imagine as Light has scripted history by becoming the first Indian film in over 30 years to be selected in the Main Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival, making Payal the first Indian female filmmaker ever to be selected in the Cannes Competition

The film is among 19 films competing for the Palme d'Or Award along with the likes of some prolific filmmakers such as Andrea Arnold, Francis Ford Coppola, Jia Zhang-Ke, Paolo Sorrentino, Sean Baker and Ali Abbasi. 

Payal’s acclaimed debut feature doc, A Night of Knowing Nothing premiered at Cannes Film Festival’s sidebar Directors’ Fortnight 2021 won the Oeil d'Or (Golden Eye) award for Best Documentary film and traveled around the world. 

The Malayalam-Hindi feature starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon and Azees Nedumangad, All We Imagine as Light is the story of Nurse Prabha, whose routine is troubled when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a spot in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend. A trip to a beach town allows them to find a space for their desires to manifest.

The film is an Indo-French co-production between petit chaos from France and Chalk and Cheese Films from India. The other co-producers are Arte France Cinéma, Baldr Film, Another Birth, Les Films Fauves and Pulpa Film.

Thomas Hakim and Julien Graff are the producers from petit chaos. The Indian producers are Zico Maitra (Chalk and Cheese) and Ranabir Das (Another Birth) who is also the Cinematographer of the film. 

Chalk and Cheese have had a successful run for the last nine years in producing commercials for television and digital media – All We Imagine as Light is its first foray into feature films. 

Sharing her joy about Cannes selection, the award-winning filmmaker and the alumna of the Film & Television Institute of India, Payal Kapadia says, ‘Being selected in Cannes' Competition is truly thrilling and humbling, especially considering how much I admire many directors selected in this section, both in the past and present. It's an immense honour to be showing my film among them."

Payal Kapadia is a Mumbai based filmmaker. She studied Film Direction at the Film & Television Institute of India. Her short films Afternoon Clouds and And What Is The Summer Saying premiered respectively at the Cinéfondation and the Berlinale. Her first feature film A Night of Knowing Nothing premiered at 2021 Director's Fortnight, where it won the Golden Eye for best documentary.

We had the privilege of interviewing the talented filmmaker last year when her documentary, A Night of Knowing Nothing, was making waves at various festivals. Click here to read the entire interview that will tell you more about Payal’s beginnings and journey with film.