Payal Kapadia (filmmaker)

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Payal Kapadia
All We Imagine as Light Director Payal Kapadia at 2024 Cannes Film Festival.jpg
Payal Kapadia at 2024 Cannes Film Festival
Born1986 (age 3738)
Mumbai, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Film and Television Institute of India
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active2014–present

Payal Kapadia (born 1986) is an Indian filmmaker. In 2017, her short film Afternoon Clouds was the only Indian film selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival. [1] In 2021, she won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 74th Cannes Film Festival for her debut feature A Night of Knowing Nothing . [2] [3] [4]

Contents

In 2024, she won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for her fiction feature debut All We Imagine as Light . [5] [6] It also earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. [7]

Early life and education

Payal Kapadia was born in Mumbai in 1986 to painter and video artist Nalini Malani [8] and psychoanalyst Shailesh Kapadia. [9]

Kapadia went to Rishi Valley School, a boarding school in Andhra Pradesh. Here she had her first exposure to avant-garde filmmakers like Ritwik Ghatak and Andrei Tarkovsky, as she was part of the school's film club. She studied at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai,and also earned a one-year master's degree from Sophia College for Women. [10]

She then went on to study film direction at the Film and Television Institute of India, [11] where she was selected on her second attempt in 2012. In between for five years she worked in Mumbai, in advertising and assisting a video artist. [10]

Career

In 2017, Kapadia's short film Afternoon Clouds was the only Indian film selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival. [12]

In 2021, she won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 74th Cannes Film Festival for her debut feature A Night of Knowing Nothing . [13] [14] [15]

In 2024, Kapadia won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for her fiction feature debut All We Imagine as Light . [16] [17] It also earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. [7]

Filmography

– Indicates Documentary film
YearTitleCredited asNotes
DirectorWriterOther
2014Watermelon, Fish and Half GhostYesNoNoShort film
2015The Last Mango Before the MonsoonYesYesEditor
2017Afternoon CloudsYesYesNo
2018And What is the Summer SayingYesYesNo
2021 A Night of Knowing Nothing YesYesNo
2024 All We Imagine as Light YesYesNo

Accolades

AwardYearCategoryWorkResultRef.
Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2021 Best Film A Night of Knowing Nothing Nominated [18]
2024 All We Imagine as Light Nominated [19]
Best Director Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
British Independent Film Awards 2024 Best International Independent Film All We Imagine as Light Nominated [20]
Cahiers du Cinéma 2024 Annual Top 10 All We Imagine as Light 5th place [21]
Camden International Film Festival 2021Cinematic Vision Award A Night of Knowing Nothing Won [22]
Cannes Film Festival 2021 Caméra d'Or A Night of Knowing Nothing Nominated [23]
L'Œil d'or Won [24]
2024 Palme d'Or All We Imagine as Light Nominated [25]
Grand Prix Won [26]
Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai – Special MentionWon [27]
Chicago Film Critics Association 2024 Milos Stehlik Award for Breakthrough Filmmaker All We Imagine as Light Pending [28]
Chicago International Film Festival 2024 Silver Hugo – Jury Prize All We Imagine as Light Won [29]
Cinema Eye Honors 2023 Outstanding Nonfiction Feature A Night of Knowing Nothing Nominated [30]
[31]
Outstanding DirectionNominated
Outstanding DebutNominated
Fribourg International Film Festival 2019Best International Short Film AwardAnd What Is the Summer Saying?Won [32]
Golden Globe Awards 2025 Best Director – Motion Picture All We Imagine as Light Pending [33]
Gotham Awards 2024 Best Director All We Imagine as Light Nominated [34]
Best International Feature Won
Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival 2021Best Film Award A Night of Knowing Nothing Won [35]
Mill Valley Film Festival 2024Mind the Gap AwardHonored [36]
[37]
Mirage Film Festival 2022MIRAGE Award – Directing A Night of Knowing Nothing Won [38]
[39]
Montclair Film Festival 2024Fiction Feature Prize All We Imagine as Light Won [40]
[41]
New York Film Critics Circle 2024 Best International Film All We Imagine as Light Won [42]
San Diego Asian Film Festival 2017Best International ShortAfternoon CloudsWon [43]
San Sebastián International Film Festival 2024RTVE-Another Look Award All We Imagine as Light Won [44]
[45]
Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2022Merit Prize A Night of Knowing Nothing Won [46]
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Amplify Voices Award Won [47]
[48]
[49]
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2023Robert and Frances Flaherty PrizeWon [50]
[51]

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