Payal Kapadia's maiden feature film, All We Imagine As Light, was an instant hit in Cannes. The first indian film in 30 years, following Shaji N. Karun's Swaham (1994), and the first by an indian woman filmmaker to appear in the official Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival, it has now achieved another milestone by winning the coveted Grand Prix, the second highest award after the Palme d'Or.
 
The film, a magnificent, brilliant reflection on the lives of three ordinary women—Prabha, Anu, and Parvati—in Mumbai, their challenges and predicaments, and their journey together to hope and liberation in Ratnagiri, struck a universal emotional chord with its blend of sorrow, sanguineness, and optimism.


The Malayalam-Marathi-Hindi language film is a co-production between India, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and its win is likely to have a significant influence on the future of indian independent filmmaking.
 
The New indian Express met Payal at the Palais des Festivals' Audio-Visual Terrace, where she was accompanied by two of her producers, Thomas Hakim of Petit Chaos and Ranabir Das, the film's cinematographer and collaborator. It was the day following the film's global premiere and a day before the formal closing ceremony, and Payal seemed unconcerned about the honours. She described getting picked for the tournament as an accomplishment in and of itself. Cannes, on the other hand, had a more extravagant present for her.
 
 
 

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