Indian film ‘All We Imagine As Light’ marks history at Cannes, clinches Grand Prix Award

Indian film 'All We Imagine As Light' won the Grand Prix Award at the Cannes Film Festival, on May 25. 

A debut fiction feature by Payal Kapadia, the film became the first Indian one to compete for the Palme d'Or award in nearly three decades.

The last to compete was Shaji N Karun's 'Swaham' in 1994.

Kapadia's film was in the competition alongside works by famous directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Baker, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paul Schrader, Magnus Von Horn, and Paolo Sorrentino. 

The jury was presided over by Greta Gerwig, director of 'Ladybird' and 'Barbie'.

On May 23, the film was screened at Cannes after which it was given an eight-minute standing ovation.

Three years ago, Payal Kapadia won the 'le prix du documentaire' for Best Documentary for 'A Night of Knowing Nothing' at Cannes. However, 'All We Imagine As Light' is Kapadia’s first feature film.

'All We Imagine As Light', an Indo-French production which tells the story of a nurse named Prabha who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband which causes a lot of problems in her life.

Other Indian films that have previously been selected for the Cannes' competition section include works by Chetan Anand, V Shantaram, Raj Kapoor, Satyajit Ray, MS Sathyu, and Mrinal Sen. 'Neecha Nagar' remains the only Indian film to have won a Palme d'Or.

Actor Aditi Rao Hydari praised the achievement. She wrote on Instagram, "At a very perplexing time in history where only the noise from my incredible country seems to get amplified, here is an independent film by a first-time director that wins the Grand Prix honour at @festivaldecannes (sic)."

Actor-producer Tovino Thomas, writer-comedian Varun Grover, director and actor Anurag Kashyap also lauded the huge achievement on a global platform.