Cannes: At Cannes 2024, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia made history. The film directed by her, All We Imagined Light, won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival.
Indian director Payal Kapadia made history as she won the country’s first-ever Grand Prix Award. Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha star as nurses based out of Mumbai in this Malayalam-Hindi film. The cast also includes Chhaya Kadam and Hridhu Haroon. Payal made festival history by becoming the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix and the first to compete in the event in 30 years.
The Grand Prix is the festival’s second-highest honour, following the Palme d’Or, which was won by Anona and Sean Baker.
A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Kapadia gained recognition abroad for her documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing, which had its world premiere and won the Golden Eye (Oeil d’Or) at Cannes in 2021. With the FTII student protests serving as the backdrop, Kapadia’s involvement in the documentary was deeply personal.
Prime Minister Modi posted a photo of Team All We Imagine As Light on his official X handle and congratulated them on winning the Grand Pix award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. He further stated to X that she is an inspiration to a new generation of Indian filmmakers and that India is proud of her.
This historic win positions it as a strong contender for India’s submission in the Best International Feature Film category. The Grand Prix victory provides the visibility required for a compelling case to be presented.
Earlier, Anasuya Sengupta, one of the lead actors in Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov’s Hindi-language film The Shameless, made history by winning the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Sengupta, from Kolkata, is the first Indian artist to win the top acting award in that category, making it a significant achievement for India at the prestigious film festival. Sengupta accepted the award on Friday night, dedicating it to the queer and other marginalized communities for their unwavering fight for their rights around the world.
