Indian cinema celebrated a momentous occasion at the 77th Cannes Film Festival as Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ clinched the Grand Prix. Although it fell short of the Palme d’Or, the film’s triumph marked a significant achievement for Indian filmmakers and was met with an extended standing ovation from a house-full audience.
This victory holds particular significance as it is the first time since 1994 that an Indian film has been featured in the prestigious competition section of the festival. The last Indian entry was Shaji Karun’s ‘Swaham,’ which did not win any awards. The Palme d’Or that year went to Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction.’
This year’s Palme d’Or was awarded to American filmmaker Sean Baker for ‘Anora,’ a film described by ‘Variety’ as “a rowdy whirlwind romance between an exotic dancer and the obscenely rich son of a Russian oligarch.” Baker’s win makes him the first American director to receive the top prize at Cannes since Terrence Malick’s victory for ‘The Tree of Life’ in 2011.
Kapadia received the Grand Prix from Hollywood star Viola Davis, accompanied by the film’s lead actors Kani Kusruti, Chhaya Kadam, and Divya Prabha. In her acceptance speech, Kapadia praised Portuguese director Miguel Gomes, winner of the Best Director award, and emphasized the value of female friendship over stereotypical portrayals of rivalry among women. She also urged festival decision-makers not to wait another 30 years to feature an Indian film in the competition section.
Anurag Kashyap, reacting to the announcement, toasted Kapadia, recognising her as an inspiration for a new generation of independent filmmakers. The 38-year-old director’s success at Cannes is a beacon of hope for aspiring talents in Indian cinema.
India’s presence at the 77th Cannes Film Festival was further bolstered by several other accolades. Debutante actress Anasuya Sengupta won the Best Actress prize in the Un Certain Regard segment for her performance in Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov’s ‘The Shameless.’ Additionally, Mysuru-based Chidananda Naik’s student film ‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know…’ won the top prize in the ‘La Cinef’ segment. Veteran cinematographer Santosh Sivan was honoured with the Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens in Cinematography award, becoming the first Asian recipient of this prestigious accolade.
‘All We Imagine As Light,’ hailed by the BBC as a “magical ode to nocturnal Mumbai,” is a delicate portrayal of three women dedicated to helping others while receiving little in return. True to Kapadia’s style, the film makes a strong political statement, depicting a relationship between a Hindu woman and a young Muslim man. The film’s climax features a powerful scene of the couple making love in a forest near a beach town where the three lead characters take a break.
Kapadia, daughter of acclaimed artist Nalini Malini and an FTII graduate, previously won the Golden Eye at Cannes in 2021 for her debut documentary ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing.’
The jury for this year’s competition, presided over by ‘Barbie’ hitmaker Greta Gerwig, included notable figures such as Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona, Turkish actress and screenwriter Ebru Ceylan, Italian actor-producer Pierfrancesco Favino, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ star Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green, Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, Lebanese actress and filmmaker Nadine Labaki, and French actor Omar Sy.
Kapadia’s achievement at Cannes not only brings pride to Indian cinema but also highlights the growing influence and recognition of diverse voices in global filmmaking.
Here’s the complete list of other winners who were honoured on Saturday night:
Jury Prize: Former Palme d’Or winner Jacques Audiard’s Spanish film ‘Emilia Perez’. The Mexico-set musical about a cartel boss who disappears in order to re-emerge as a woman, according to ‘Variety’ stars Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and trans star Karla Sofía Gascon.
Best Director: Miguel Gomes from Portugal for ‘Grand Tour’, which blends colour and black- and-white cinematography to tell the early 20th-century story of a British civil servant who attempts to flee his fiancee by hopping from one Asian country to the next.
Best Actor: Jesse Plemons, a.k.a. Kirsten Dunst’s husband, ‘Kinds of Kindness’ (director: Yorgos Lanthimos, who was in the news not so long ago for his Emma Stone film, ‘Poor Things’). Plemons, says ‘Variety’, plays three roles, those of submissive businessman, grieving police officer and bisexual cult member in this surrealist satire.
Special Award for Best Screenplay: ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’, Iranian dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof’s latest film, for which he was condemned to an eight-year prison sentence back home.
Best Actress: The quartet of stars of the Spanish film ‘Emilia Perez’ Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon and Selena Gomez. Lily Gladstone of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, who was on the jury presided over by Greta Gerwig, described the award as “the harmony of sisterhood”.
Best Screenplay: ‘The Substance’ (starring Demi Moore), Coralie Fargeat
Camera d’Or (which is awarded to a first film): ‘Armand’, director Halfdan Ullmann Tondel, who, incidentally, is grandson of Norwegian actress Liv Ullman and Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.
Special Mentions: ‘Mongrel’ (directed: Chiang Wei Liang) and ‘Bad For A Moment’ (director: Daniel Soares)
Short Film Palme d’Or: ‘The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent’ (director: Nebojsa Slijepcevic)