'All We Imagine...' coming to Cannes helped film's release in India, says Payal Kapadia

New Delhi: 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.

Besides the Grand Prix, the film received many accolades across the globe, including Jury Grand Prize at Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Best International Feature at Gotham Awards, was named Best International Film by New York Film Critics Circle, Best Film at Asian Film Awards.

It was also nominated at the Golden Globe Awards in Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film categories.

The Cannes jury panel also includes American actor and filmmaker Halle Berry, Italian actor Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani, Congolese director-producer Dieudo Hamadi, Korean director and screenwriter Hong Sangsoo, Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas and American actor Jeremy Strong.

As a member of the jury, Kapadia said it's a privilege to watch the films that will compete for the top prize, Palme d'Or.

"It's like you see the best of world cinema for the very first time. And also for me, being a cinephile, I'm just so excited," she added.

The Mumbai-born filmmaker said she is currently working on two films set in her city, which will form a trilogy along with "All We Imagine..." "I'm right now working on two films based on my city, which is Mumbai. So, to have a trilogy but with different characters. It's a city that's complex and full of contradictions. There's a lot for me to explore still and I need to get that out before I move on to anything else." The 78th Cannes Film Festival, which kicked off on Tuesday, will come to a close on May 24.