Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light' Becomes First Indian Film To Win Grand Prix

‘All We Imagine as Light’ received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 on Saturday.

‘All We Imagine As Light’ is the first Indian film in 30 years to participate in Cannes main competition.

Source : X/@festival_cannes

New Delhi: Payal Kapadia's mesmerising drama ‘All We Imagine as Light’ received the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, writing her name into cinematic history. This film, which follows two nurses from Kerala who find themselves in modern-day Mumbai, made history as the first Indian film to participate in the main category at Cannes in 30 years. 

At the festival's closing night awards event, filmmaker Payal Kapadia was seen alongside Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, and Chhaya Kadam, among others, from the film's cast. 

PAYAL KAPADIA, lauréate du Grand Prix pour ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT.
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PAYAL KAPADIA, award winner of the Grand Prix for ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT.#Cannes2024 #Palmares #Awards #GrandPrix pic.twitter.com/nE16YOvLeC

— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 25, 2024

While winning the prize, Kapadia pleaded with the audience, saying, "Please don't wait another 30 years to have an Indian film."

The last Indian film to compete for the Palme d'Or was ‘Swaham’, a rural-set masterpiece directed by Malayalam filmmaker Shaji N Karun in 1994.

Presented during the 77th annual festival's closing ceremony, Grand Prix award is the second most revered honour after the Palme d'Or, 'All We Imagine As Light' was the lucky recipient.

#CannesMoments | Le tapis rouge transformé en piste de danse 💃 Montée des marches façon Bollywood pour la présentation en Compétition de All We Imagine as Light de la réalisatrice indienne Payal Kapadia. #Cannes2024
-----#CannesMoments | The red carpet turned into a dance floor… pic.twitter.com/jStaRZCATm

— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 24, 2024

The film  'All We Imagine As Light' received one of the biggest standing ovations of the festival this year—eight minutes—following its screening on May 23.

Among the films that were presented during the ceremony were ‘All We Imagine As Light’, the latest feature from ‘Yorgos Lanthimos’, ‘Paolo Sorrentino’, ‘Francis Ford Coppola’, and ‘Paul Schrader’.

A number of notable figures, including Barbie director Greta Gerwig, Lily Gladstone, Hirokazu Koreeda, Eva Green, Omar Sy, and Ebru Ceylan, were members of the jury at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

About Payal Kapadia

Payal Kapadia studied filmmaking at India's prestigious Film & Television Institute of India (FTII). She gained fame with her critically praised documentary ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’, which was shown at the Director's Fortnight side-bar of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and received the prestigious Oeil d'or (Golden Eye) prize.