Chaaya Kadam, from left, Kani Kusruti, director Payal Kapadia, Divya Prabha and Hridu Haroon pose for photographers as they arrive for the premiere of the film ‘All We Imagine As Light’ at the 77th International Cannes Film Festival. Photo credit: Andrea Alexandrou

A historic moment for Indian cinema came last night when Payal Kapadia’s first fiction feature film was released. We all imagine ourselves as lightreceived an enthusiastic eight-minute standing ovation at its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. Screened in the late night competition slot, the film was the first Indian submission in the competition in three decades and the first film by an Indian female filmmaker to receive the honour.

Divya Prabha, Payal Kapadia and Kani Kusruti attend the ‘All We Imagine As Light’ press conference during the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France on May 24, 2024. Photo Credit: Christy Sparrow

A rare French-Indo co-production, the film came to life through a collaboration between Hakim and Julien Graf of Paris-based producers Petit Chaos and Zico Maitra of Mumbai’s Chalk & Cheese Films. Shot over a period of 40 days in Mumbai and the rainy western port city of Ratnagiri, the Malayalam-Hindi language feature is the story of two young women, Prabha (Kani Kasruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha).

(L-R) Hridu Haroon, Chaaya Kadam, Payal Kapadia, Divya Prabha and Kani Kusruti attend the ‘All We Imagine As Light’ photocall at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France on May 24, 2024. Photo Credit: Cindy Ord

Prabha, a Mumbai nurse, finds her routine disrupted by an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, while her roommate Anu struggles to find a private space in the city for intimacy with her boyfriend. Their trip to the beach town becomes a crucial escape where their desires and dreams come to the fore.

Kapadia got international recognition from her documentary A night of knowing nothing (2021), which was screened at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, where it won the Golden Eye for Best Documentary. In an interview, he highlighted the diverse and rich filmmaking talent across India. “India is a country that makes a lot of good films. Not just Bollywood but every state has its own industry and there are absolutely brilliant filmmakers. I hope we don’t have to wait another 30 years after this,” he said.