All We Imagine As Light helmer Payal Kapadia says Indian film ‘ethos and performative quality’ are not ‘understood in the West’

Several big names from the fashion and entertainment industry have reached the French Riviera to attend the 77^th Cannes Film Festival. Many Bollywood celebs and Indian influencers have also graced the red carpet of the coveted event.

Among them is Payal Kapadia who has made us proud as her debut narrative feature All We Imagine As Light competes for the prestigious Palme d'Or award at Cannes, breaking India’s 30-year-old jinx.

Payal Kapadia opens up on an Indian film competing at Cannes after 30 years

In 1994, Shaji Karun’s film Swaham was the first Indian film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival where it also competed for the main title Palme d'Or. Now, after 3 decades, the spell has been broken by filmmaker Payal Kapadia at the 77^th edition of the event.

In an exclusive chat with The Indian Express, she opined why it took so much time for an Indian film to compete again for the prestigious Palme d'Or award at Cannes. She stated, “Indian films have their own ethos and performative quality that we are used to. But it is not well understood in the West.”

According to her, we have our own ecosystem for films in every state that caters to a specific audience. “Which is why so many filmmakers rightly don’t feel the need for Western validation. Having said that, I also believe that even in our country it’s good to be open to different ways of storytelling which could be inspired from other countries,” Payal added.

Having said that, this is not the first time her work made it to the international event. Her short film Afternoon Clouds was featured in the Cinefondation section in 2017 and in 2021, A Night of Knowing Nothing won the Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) Award for Best Documentary Film.

Recalling her reaction on finding out that her 115-minute film had been selected for the festival, she shared, “Receiving this news felt so amazing. Later, I saw all the filmmakers who will be there (in the competition section). I was honored to be in the company of so many people whose work I admire,” she says. Payal’s film All We Imagine As Light is all set to premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Competition Section on May 23.