Cannes 2024: All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia creates history and receives an eight-minute standing ovation

At its world premiere on Thursday at the film festival, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light—the first Indian film in the Cannes competition in thirty years—made quite a stir and impressed viewers around the globe.

The film received one of the longest standing ovations of this year’s film festival, lasting eight minutes, after its premiere.

All We Imagine As Light dominating critics
The picture scripted history at the festival and puts Payal in the running for the coveted Palme d’Or. In addition to being the first Indian production in the competition in thirty years, Deadline claims that Payal is the first female Indian director to have a film screened in the Cannes competition.

“India produces a great deal of excellent films. Not only does each state have its own film industry, led by incredibly talented directors, but not only Bollywood. Payal expressed her excitement and happiness that her picture was chosen to Deadline. “I hope that after this we won’t have to wait another 30 years,” she said. We weren’t prepared for it, and it’s an honour because there are so many directors in the category who I find truly inspiring.

This year, Payal faces off against Jacques Audiard, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paul Schrader, David Cronenberg, and Jia Zhangke.

Dancing their path to success
The movie’s cast and crew were beaming on the red carpet prior to leaving for the premiere.

On the Palais stairs, the entire team exuded joy and even danced their way up to the theatre. On the red carpet, the cast was all smiles, making a lot of funny poses and grabbing everyone’s attention.

Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, and Hridhu Haroon are among the actors in the movie.

Payal feels honoured that she has the opportunity to create history at the film festival and demonstrate to the world that Indian cinema is much more diverse than Bollywood.

preliminary evaluations
After the screening, the movie is receiving excellent reviews. According to Sophie Monk-Kaufman of IndieWire, “This casual everyday vignette is brimming with a sensuality (the rain, the clothes, the food, the women) that people don’t tend to notice when caught up in the rhythm of life,” the film is “gorgeous and absorbing,” according to one review. Realising just how complete these moments are requires a snapshot taken by an outside photographer.

Variety referred to it as a “glowing portrait of urban connection and unexpected sisterhood,” while The Guardian described it as a “dreamlike and gentle modern Mumbai tale that is a triumph.”

Learn more about All We Imagine As Light
A nurse named Prabha (played by Kani Kusruti) receives an unexpected present from her long-estranged husband in the Indo-French film All We Imagine As Light. Meanwhile, Anu, her flatmate and younger companion (played by Divya Prabha), is searching for a peaceful place to spend time with her partner. At that point, the two women make the decision to drive to a beach resort where they can freely pursue their aspirations.

Payal makes her feature debut in the movie. A Night of Knowing Nothing, the documentary she did before, won the Golden Eye prize at the Cannes film festival a few years ago.

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