Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ brings India back in competition at Cannes with an 8-Minute standing ovation

Payal Kapadia's debut film at Cannes 2024 receives standing ovation, marking a historic moment for Indian cinema.

A landmark moment for Indian cinema came last night as Payal Kapadia’s debut fiction feature, All We Imagine As Light, received an enthusiastic eight-minute standing ovation at its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. Screening in the late-night competition slot, the film was the first Indian production in the competition in three decades and the first by an Indian woman filmmaker to achieve this honor.

A rare French-Indo co-production, the film was brought to life through a collaboration between Paris-based producers Hakim and Julien Graff of Petit Chaos and Mumbai’s Zico Maitra of Chalk & Cheese Films. Shot over a span of 40 days across Mumbai and the rainy western port town of Ratnagiri, the Malayalam-Hindi language feature weaves the story of two young women, Prabha (Kani Kasruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha).

Prabha, a nurse from Mumbai, finds her routine disrupted by an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, while her roommate Anu struggles to find a private space in the bustling city for intimacy with her boyfriend. Their journey to a beach town becomes a pivotal escape where their desires and dreams unfold.

Kapadia gained international recognition with her documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021), which screened in Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, where it won the Golden Eye for best documentary. In an interview, she highlighted the diverse and rich filmmaking talent across India. “India is a country that makes a lot of good films. Not just Bollywood but every state has its industry and there are absolutely brilliant filmmakers. I hope that after this we won’t have to wait another 30 years.” she said.