The first Indian film to compete in the Cannes competition in thirty years, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light, has blazed a trail for sales to other regions.
Before it opens in Cannes on Thursday, May 23, the movie has already been sold to Atalante in Spain, Leopardo Filmes in Portugal, Lev Cinemas in Israel, DDDReam in China, Lighthouse in Singapore, Gutek Film in Poland, Cinobo in Greece, Green Narae Media in South Korea, Trigon-Film in Switzerland, Kino Pavasaris for the Baltics, and MCF Megacom for the former Yugoslavia. The film was sold by Paris-based sales house Luxbox.
All We Imagine As Light is a Mumbai-based film that centres on two cohabiting nurses who decide to travel to a seaside town.
France’s Petit Chaos is the film’s producer; co-producers include Chalk & Cheese in India, Arte France Cinema in France, Baldr Film in the Netherlands, Another Birth in India, Les Films Fauves in Luxembourg, and Pulpa Film in Italy.
It is Kapadia’s first fiction feature following her Directors’ Fortnight premiere, A Night of Knowing Nothing, which earned her the 2021 Cannes L’Oeil d’Or prise for best documentary. The final Indian film to screen in competition in 1994 was the drama Swaham, directed by Shaji N. Karun and produced in Malayalam.
