Now in cinemas: "All We Imagine as Light", by Payal Kapadia

Indian filmmaker and screenwriter Payal Kapadia was born in Bombay, Maharashtra. After attending Rishi Valley School, a boarding school in Andhra Pradesh, she studied at St. Xavier's College and then at Sophia College for Women, where she earned a master's degree. In the early 2010s, she was selected to study film at the Film and Television Institute of India while also working as an assistant videographer and advertising videographer. She began making her first short films in 2014, and her first feature documentary, A Night of Knowing Nothing, won the Golden Eye award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021. Her first feature fiction film, All We Imagine as Light, went on to win the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2024. 

In All We Imagine as Light, Payal Kapadia follows the daily lives of night workers in Bombay, particularly focusing on three women: two nurse roommates and a cook, all working in the same hospital. Each of them faces different challenges, from an absent husband to a secret boyfriend, as well as the struggle to find housing. Through their journeys, an observation of contemporary India emerges, caught between its traditions and its quest for modernity. 

The filmmaker opts for a choral film, capable of portraying a sprawling country and realistically depicting its social context. As in her previous feature documentary, she maintains a commitment to authenticity by closely following her heroines while choosing to infuse elements that border on the dreamlike. With a gentle and luminous style, she addresses the female condition with touching poetry and sensitivity, guiding the viewer to the very edges of a dream. 

Recognized for her work with her first feature documentary, A Night of Knowing Nothing, which earned her the Golden Eye award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, Payal Kapadia won the Grand Prix at the 2024 edition for All We Imagine as Light. The film had already generated buzz, as it was the first Indian film to be in the official selection since Shaji N. Karun's Destiny in 1994. All We Imagine as Light also received support from the Aide aux cinémas du monde programme, co-managed by the Institut français and the CNC. This support allows fiction, animation, or creative documentary feature film projects to be guided before or after production for their first cinematic release.