India’s 30-year hiatus from the Cannes Film Festival came to an end with the selection of Payal Kapadia’s feature film “All We Imagine As Light” in the prestigious competition for the Palme d’Or. The movie, set in Mumbai, follows the lives of two migrant Malayali nurses and challenges the societal norms that bind women. Hollywood filmmaker Greta Gerwig will preside over the feature film jury, while Xavier Dolan will preside over the Un Certain Regard jury at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024.
Produced by Indo-French collaboration, the film features Kani Kusruti, Diyva Phahba, and Hridhu Haroon in key roles. This will be Kapadia’s third time at the Cannes Film Festival, with her previous works “A Night of Not Knowing Nothing” and “Afternoon Clouds” also making an impact at the festival. The last Indian film to compete at Cannes was Shaji N Karun’s “Swaham” in 1994, breaking a long drought for Indian cinema at this prestigious event.
In addition to Kapadia’s film, British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s debut feature “Santosh” will also be part of the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, selected for the Un Certain Regard section. The film tells the story of a woman who takes on her deceased husband’s role as a cop in rural northern India. Backed by BFI and co-produced by BBC Film, Good Chaos, Suitable Pictures, and Razor Film, “Santosh” is one of the four BBC-backed films in the official selection at Cannes this year, alongside “Bird,” “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” and “September Says.”
The Cannes Film Festival has a history of recognizing Indian films, with notable entries such as Mrinal Sen’s “Kharij” winning the Jury Prize in 1983 and Chetan Anand’s “Neecha Nagar” bagging the Palme d’Or in 1946. Other Indian films that have competed at Cannes include V Shantaram’s “Amar Bhoopali” in 1952, Satyajit Ray’s “Parash Pathar” in 1958, and MS Sathyu’s “Garm Hava” in 1974. The inclusion of Indian films at Cannes underscores the rich cultural diversity and cinematic talent present in the Indian film industry.
Women filmmakers will continue to make their mark at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, with a total of four films by female directors featured in the competition section. In 2023, the festival saw a record seven women directors’ films in the lineup, with Justine Triet becoming the third woman to win the Palme d’Or for “Anatomy of a Fall.” This year, Andrea Arnold, Coralie Fargeat, and Agathe Riedinger are among the women whose works will be showcased alongside Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” at Cannes, highlighting the diverse and impactful storytelling by women in the film industry.
