Indian film enters Cannes’ main competition after 30 years

After an extensive wait of three decades, an Indian film will feature in the main competition slot of the upcoming 77th edition of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. 

The screening of the film, "All We Imagine As Light" by writer-director Payal Kapadia was announced at a press conference in Paris by Iris Knobloch, the festival's president, and Thierry Fremaux, the general delegate, on Thursday.

The film follows two women on a vacation where they explore their desires.

Notably, Kapadia is among the four female directors competing this year, a decrease from seven last year.

Kapadia is already familiar with the Cannes Film Festival, often referred to as a "playground for the rich and famous." 

In 2021, her film "A Night of Knowing Nothing" won the Golden Eye Award for Best Documentary at the Director's Fortnight, a significant sidebar of the festival. The documentary, which deals with campus unrest, narrates its story through letters from a student to her lover. 

Previously, in 2017, her film "Afternoon Clouds" was featured in the Cinefondation section, another event held during the festival alongside Critics' Week and Director's Fortnight.

The 30-year-old filmmaker is set to compete for the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival alongside renowned global filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis", Sean Baker's "Anora", Yórgos Lánthimos' "Kinds Of Kindness", David Cronenberg's "The Shrouds", Andrea Arnold's "Bird", Paul Schrader's "Oh Canada," Jacques Audiard's "Emilia Perez", and Paulo Sorrentino's "Parthenope" amongst others.

"All We Imagine As Light", an Indo-French collaborative film, centers on Prabha, a nurse who feels unsettled by an unexpected gift from her long-separated husband. Meanwhile, her younger friend and roommate, Anu, struggles to find a private place for a rendezvous with her lover. Ultimately, the two women embark on a road trip to a coastal town, where they discover the freedom to pursue their dreams and desires.

In 1994, the festival selected Shaji N Karun's "Swaham" to compete for the prestigious Palme d'Or. This was about 11 years after Mrinal Sen's Bengali film "Kharij" participated in the Cannes Competition in 1983, where it won the jury prize.

India receives a significant boost as British-Indian director Sandhya Suri's first feature film, "Santosh," is chosen for Un Certain Regard, the second most prestigious category at the festival after the main competition. The film, described as a character-driven neo-noir, is set in the plains of northern India and stars Shahana Goswami.

Over its 77-year history, the Cannes Film Festival has featured only a select few Indian films in its Competition segment. The enduring titles include Chetan Anand's "Neecha Nagar" (1946), V Shantaram's "Amar Bhoopali" (1952), Raj Kapoor's "Awaara" (1953), Satyajit Ray's "Parash Pathar" (1958), MS Sathyu's "Garm Hava" (1974), and Mrinal Sen's "Kharij" (1983). These films have stood the test of time to remain significant in the annals of Indian cinema at Cannes.

"Neecha Nagar" is the only Indian film to have won the Palme d'Or.

The festival will commence on May 14 and run till May 25, this year.