For the very first time in over thirty years, an Indian film was not only screened at the Cannes Film Festival, but even went on to nab one of its highest accolades. Directed by Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light narrates the story of two nurses living in the bustling chaos of Mumbai, offering viewers a slice-of-life peek into their hopes, dreams, and romantic aspirations. Marking Kapadia’s debut fiction feature, it now bears the distinction of winning this year’s Grand Prix award. But if that’s not reason enough to watch it, here’s everything else to know on its cast, plot, and more.
The film is produced by France’s Petit Chaos with co-producers including India’s Chalk & Cheese, France’s Arte France Cinema, the Netherlands’ Baldr Film, India’s Another Birth, Luxembourg’s Les Films Fauves and Italy’s Pulpa Film. The film was India’s first entry in three decades for the top prize at the film festival. However, Kapadia is not a stranger to Cannes. Payal’s documentary, A Night Of Knowing Nothing bagged the Cannes’ l’Oeil d’Or prize for best documentary in 2021 when it premiered during the Directors’ Fortnight stream.
The cast of All We Imagine as Light has, so far, received praise for their work in the film, along with appreciation for Payal Kapadia. We dive into the cast and plot of the movie and a little more about the director extraordinaire.
All We Imagine as Light: Meet the cast of the movie & learn about its plot
All We Imagine as Light was picked to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The film had its world premiere on 23 May 2024 at Cannes. Shaji N. Karun’s Malayalam-language drama Swaham was the last film from India to play in the competition in 1994. Kapadia became the first Indian woman to be nominated for the Palme d’Or and to win a Grand Prix award for an Indian film.
All We Imagine as Light at Cannes Film Festival 2024
For the 77th edition of the film festival, Kapadia’s feature film competed with Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, Sean Baker’s Anora, Yórgos Lánthimos’s Kinds Of Kindness, Paul Schrader’s Oh Canada, Magnus Von Horn’s The Girl With The Needle and Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope, among others.
Greta Gerwig, known for her directorials like Lady Bird (2017) and Barbie (2023), presided over the jury comprising Lily Gladstone (Actor, USA), Eva Green (Actor, France), Nadine Labaki (Director, Writer, Lebanon), Juan Antonio Bayona (Director, Writer, Producer, Spain), Pierfrancesco Favino (Actor, Italy), Kore-eda Hirokazu (Director, Japan) and Omar Sy (Actor, France), Ebru Ceylan (Writer, Photographer, Turkey).
What is Payal Kapadia’s film about?
The plot of All We Imagine as Light revolves around two nurses, Prabha and Anu, living in Mumbai. Troubled by their relationships, the duo decides to embark on a road trip to a beach town. While Prabha struggles to deal with the complexities that an unexpected gift from her long-estranged husband brings, her roommate Anu is frustrated because she cannot find a private spot in the big city to be alone with her boyfriend. The two reach a mystical forest on their trip to the beach town and realise that the place is a safe space for their dreams to manifest.
Who is a part of the cast of All We Imagine as Light?
The film stars Kani Kusruti as Prabha, Divya Prabha as Anu, Chhaya Kadam as Parvaty and Hridhu Haroon as Shiz. The film was shot in Mumbai for over twenty-five days and then the filming took place in Ratnagiri for fifteen days.
Is there a trailer for the movie?
Yes, there is a trailer for Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light. Check out the trailer below:
Year of production: 2024
Country: France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg
Duration: 1 hr 54 mins
Other movies by Payal Kapadia: Watermelon, Fish and Half Ghost (2014), Afternoon Clouds (2015), The Last Mango Before the Monsoon (2017), And What is the Summer Saying (2018)
Indian movies selected for the Cannes competition earlier
The Indian films that have competed for a Palme d’Or previously include titles like Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar (1946), V Shantaram’s Amar Bhoopali (1952), Raj Kapoor’s Awaara (1953), Satyajit Ray’s Parash Pathar (1958) and MS Sathyu’s Garm Hava (1974). Neecha Nagar is the only Indian film that was awarded a Palme d’Or.
All Images: Courtesy Cannes Film Festival official website
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Written by
Ananya Swaroop
Digital Writer - Entertainment
Cinema has always fascinated Ananya, so much that she got a degree in media to know more about it. She has worked for magazines like Man's World India and CineBlitz as an entertainment writer. When not writing about films and celebrities, she likes to travel to new places or try new cuisines. Travel and Food are her latest interests and she is looking forward to explore these further.
