Payal Kapadia Becomes First Indian Filmmaker to Win Grand Prix at Cannes

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Payal Kapadia becomes the first Indian filmmaker to win the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival.

An Overview of the News

• Kapadia's film “All We Imagine as Light” won the Grand Prix, the second-most prestigious prize after the Palme d’Or.

• The film is the first Indian film in 30 years and the first ever by an Indian female director to be showcased in the main competition at Cannes.

Prestigious Competition

• Kapadia’s film competed against works by renowned directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Baker, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paul Schrader, Magnus Von Horn, and Paolo Sorrentino.

• The jury was presided over by Greta Gerwig, the director of ‘Ladybird’ and ‘Barbie’.

Previous Awards:

• Three years ago, Payal Kapadia won the ‘le prix du Documentaire’ for Best Documentary for ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’ at Cannes.

First Feature Film:

• 'All We Imagine As Light’ is Kapadia’s first feature film.

Film Synopsis of ‘All We Imagine As Light’

• The film, an Indo-French production, tells the story of a nurse named Prabha who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, causing disruption in her life.

Legacy of Indian Films at Cannes

• Notable Selections: Other Indian films that have previously been selected for the Cannes competition section include works by Chetan Anand, V Shantaram, Raj Kapoor, Satyajit Ray, MS Sathyu, and Mrinal Sen.

• Previous Winner: ‘Neecha Nagar’ remains the only Indian film to have won a Palme d’Or.