Payal Kapadia made history at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Indian director to win the Grand Prix, the second-most prestigious award after the Palme d’Or. The director’s film All That We Imagine As Light was honoured at the concluding night of the 77th edition of the film festival. In her acceptance speech, the filmmaker spoke about her journey with the film and how it took the festival 30 years to nominate an Indian film in the top prize category - Palme d’Or. 

Payal Kapadia expresses gratitude for the Grand Prix win 

Payal Kapadia was accompanied by the actors in the film Kani Kasturi, Chhaya Kadam and Divya Prabha while receiving the award. In her acceptance speech, the director expressed gratitude to the actors, the festival’s jury and the film’s producers. Extending her gratitude to the cast, she said, “It's three women who have given me so much and really contributed to the film like a family and made it their own. So, thank you ladies.” 

She also requested the jury to not wait for a long time before nominating another Indian film for the top honours. She said, “I’m very nervous, so I wrote something down. Thank you very much to the Cannes Film Festival for having our film here. Please don’t wait 30 years to have another Indian film.” Talking about the plot of the film, Payal explained, "This film is about the friendship between three very different women. Oftentimes, women are pitted against each other. This is the way our society is designed and that's really unfortunate. But for me, friendship is a very important relationship because it can lead to greater solidarity, inclusivity and empathy towards each other which is why these are the values that I feel we should all be striving for.”

All We Imagine As Light becomes the first Indian film to compete for Palme d’ Or in 30 years

The last Indian movie to be selected for the main competition was Shaji N Karun’s 1994 movie Swaham. All We Imagine as Light, a Malayalam-Hindi feature, is about Prabha, a nurse, who receives an unexpected gift from her long-estranged husband that throws her life into disarray. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a private spot in the big city to be alone with her boyfriend. All We Imagine As Light is an Indo-French co-production between Petit Chaos from France and Chalk and Cheese Films from India.