Cannes Winner ‘All We Imagine as Light’ Faces Enviable Oscar Choice

Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “All We Imagine as Light” could find itself being in the enviable position of being the entry of choice at the Oscars‘ international feature category from not one but two countries – France and India.

Earlier this week, “All We Imagine as Light” sparked a surprise as it turned up in the roster of four movies shortlisted by France’s Oscar committee; alongside Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” an epic adventure film adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ classic, as well as Alain Guiraudie’s “Misericordia.”

Since then, Variety has confirmed that Kapadia’s film, which was acquired for India distribution by “Baahubali” star Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media, will release the film theatrically in the country in time to be eligible as India’s entry.

The film was produced by Thomas Hakim and Julian Graff through their France-based company Petit Chaos, in co-production with the Indian companies Chalk & Cheese Films and Another Birth, as well as by the Netherlands’s BALDR Film, Luxembourg’s Les Films Fauves, Italy’s Pulpa Films and France’s Arte France Cinéma. 

With distribution deals in place for the U.S., where it is set for a fall release, France and a slew of other major territories, “All We Imagine as Light,” will become one of the most theatrically distributed Indian indies of all time when it hits cinemas worldwide.

As such, the film’s Indian producers have submitted it for selection in India. “As Indian producers, it’s been incredible seeing a regional language film resonate so deeply with audiences globally, starting with Cannes and the film being the first Indian film to play in Competition in 30 years. We are grateful that the selection committee in France has recognized ‘All We Imagine as Light’ as a film that should be considered for best international feature,” co-producer Zico Maitra of India’s Chalk & Cheese Films told Variety.

Written and directed by Kapadia in her narrative directorial debut, the film tells the story of two women in Mumbai — Prabha, a troubled nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, and Anu, her young roommate who is seeking a place to be intimate with her boyfriend. A trip to a beach town allows them to find a space for their desires to manifest. The film stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam and Hridhu Haroon.

“While the film’s themes are global, this is a story about Mumbai and the lives of women in that city + India. It would be a great honor to represent our home country at the Academy Awards. We think it could be a source of great joy for India in the way we felt it was after the film won the Grand Prix at Cannes,” Maitra added.

In India, the other frontrunner is Anand Ekarshi’s “Aattam,” which won three prizes at India’s National Film Awards.

Competition to be France’s entry will be fierce. All four shortlisted films world premiered at Cannes Film Festival. “Emilia Perez” won two major awards, the Jury Prize and a best actress nod for its ensemble female cast, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldana and Adriana Paz. Guiraudie’s darkly comic and provocative “Misericordia” played at Cannes Premiere and recently screened at Telluride and Toronto, while “The Count of Monte Cristo,” a sweeping three-hour film directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière, unspooled out of competition at Cannes.

If “All We Imagine as Light” is chosen as France’s entry, there is one requirement in APMAS submission rules that becomes crucial: “The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens or residents of the submitting country,” the Academy states.

Petit Chaos’ Julian Graff told Variety that his company started developing “All We Imagine as Light” with Kapadia in 2019, shortly after Hakim met her at the Berlinale where she was presenting her short “And What Is the Summer Saying.”

Kapadia then paused the project during the pandemic and proceeded to making her feature debut with the documentary “A Night of Knowing Nothing” which played at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight in 2021. Once the pandemic was over, Petit Chaos was able to raise the financing for “All We Imagine as Light” and developed it creatively with Kapadia who enlisted Indian co-producers she knew to the project. The latter played a key role during the filming in India, mainly in Mumbai, Graff said.

Regarding the off-chance of seeing the movie picked by two countries as their Oscar candidates, Graff said that “All We Imagine as Light” was seen as an outsider among the films shortlisted by the France’s Oscar committee due to the stiff competition, and suggested that all the producers involved in “All We Imagine as Light” would ultimately be happy to see the film selected by India as its official entry.

“We’re being cautious because we’re not certain that ‘All We Imagine as Light’ will represent India. When we look at previous films selected there, it seems that they were not always the ones that people expected,” said Graff, adding that he’s “curious to see how the movie will fare with both France and India’s Oscars committees.”