Director Payal Kapadia credits Cannes recognition for All We Imagine As Light in securing the film’s distribution in India

Director Payal Kapadia says the recognition All We Imagine As Light received at last year’s Cannes Film Festival played a key role in securing the film’s distribution in her home country India. All We Imagine, a Malayalam-Hindi film about two Malayali nurses in Mumbai and their friendships, created history by becoming the first from India to win the Grand Prix at Cannes in May last year. The filmmaker said she is grateful to the festival and film critics for giving visibility to the movie, which also marked her feature directorial debut. Kapadia is part of the jury panel, led by French star Juliette Binoche, for the 2025 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. She was speaking at the opening press conference of the gala on Tuesday evening.

“Our film coming here in Cannes and getting the recognition and all of you writing about it really helped us to get the film out. Even the distribution in India was helped by that. “I’m really grateful. The one thing (you want) as a filmmaker is that your film should be watched by the people in your own country and everywhere else. So that was a really big bonus for me,” she told international media at the presser.

All We Imagine... received a limited release in Kerala last September, before opening nationwide in November to positive reviews. It was distributed in India by Telugu cinema star Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media.