Payal Kapadia Receives Two Golden Globe Award Nominations for ‘All We Imagine As Light’
- The Mumbai-based filmmaker’s debut feature film won the prestigious Grand Prix at Cannes 2024, becoming the first Indian film in competition at the film festival in 30 years.
Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia has received two Golden Globe Awards nominations — Best Director (Motion Picture) and Best Non-English Language Motion Picture — for her debut feature film “All We Imagine As Light,” about sisterhood in modern Mumbai. The nominations for the 82nd Golden Globe Awards were announced today (Dec. 9) by Mindy Kaling and Morris Chestnut.
Nominated alongside Kapadia in the best director category is Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez,” Sean Baker for “Anora,” Edward Berger for “Conclave,” Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist,” and Coralie Fargeat for “The Substance. “ In the best non-English language motion picture category, the film will compete with French film “Emilia Perez,” “The Girl With the Needle,” “ I’m Still Here,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” and “Vermiglio.”
Reacting to her nomination, Payal Kapadia, daughter of a well-known Indian artist Nalini Malani told India Today Digital that she’s “deeply honored” by the nomination.. “This is a celebration of everyone who worked so passionately on the film,” she said. “To everyone in India, ‘All We Imagine as Light ‘is still in theaters — please go watch it and support us.”
The Malayalam-Hindi film follows the story of Prabha (Kani Kusruti), a nurse, who receives an unexpected gift from her long estranged husband. This causes disruption in her life. Her younger roommate, Anu ((Divya Prabha), tries in vain to find a private spot in the big city to be alone with her boyfriend. One day, the two nurses go on a road trip to a beach town where the mystical forest becomes a space for their dreams to manifest.
The film has won accolades internationally including the prestigious Grand Prix at Cannes last year, becoming the first Indian film in competition at the film festival in 30 years. The screening of the film on May 22, received an eight-minute standing ovation from the audience member. Additionally the film has received the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Best International Feature at Gotham Awards, and Best International Film Award at the New York Film Critics Circle, among several others.
“Ass We Imagine As Light” also garnered rave reviews in the international press. The Guardian described the film as “glorious,” and an “absorbing story full of humanity.” According to IndieWire, “Kapadia’s drama gives Mumbai a romantic gaze, as reflected in the way “people occupy their space… whether alone or sharing.” Variety called it “a glowing portrait of urban connection and unexpected sisterhood,” whiie Deadline said the film is “Kapadia’s poetic meditation on life in urban Mumbai.”
In 2021, Kapadia’s “A Night of Knowing Nothing” won the Golden Eye at Cannes for best documentary in 2021. The film, which premiered under the Director’s Fortnight section, captures the unrest on a campus through letters written by a student to her lover, merging reality with a dream-like state. Her 2017 film, “Afternoon Clouds,” also premiered at Cannes.The 13-minute film, was made when she was a third-year student at FTII.
The Mumbai-based director and writer studied film direction at the Film & Television Institute of India. Her short films “Afternoon Clouds” (2017) and “And What is the Summer Saying” (2018) premiered respectively at the Cinéfondation and the Berlinale. She is a Berlinale Talents alumna and participated in at the Cinéfondation – Résidence du Festival de Cannes in 2019.
The Golden Globes will air live on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on CBS and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S