Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’ which bagged the prestigious Grand Prix award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival will open the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. The film festival will take place between October 19 and 24. Followed by the premiere, the title will hit theatres in November.
Talking about the film, interim festival director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur issued a press statement. She said, “We’re delighted to open the festival this year with a film that has the city of Mumbai at its heart. All We Imagine as Light will always be remembered as a film that won the Grand Prix at Cannes. But it is also an independent film that faced many challenges, especially in finding funding, before it debuted in competition at Cannes and won accolades all over the world.”
Dungarpur also added, “As we begin a new phase in MAMI, this film embodies the kind of cinema that MAMI would like to showcase and provide a platform that will celebrate and enable independent cinema of every kind to reach a wider audience.”
Filmmaker Payal Kapadia also expressed her excitement over the film’s premiere at MAMI. “When I was a student in Mumbai, I got a glimpse into world cinema and cinema from other parts of the country because of MAMI. I am happy that people in Mumbai would be able to see the film here first.”
Written and directed by Payal Kapadia, the film tells the story of two women in Mumbai. One is Prabha, a troubled nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. The other is her younger roommate, Anu, who is searching for a private space to be intimate with her boyfriend. The two embark on a beach trip that allows them to find a space for their desires to manifest. ‘All We Imagine as Light’ features Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, and Hridhu Haroon. The film made history at the Cannes Film Festival by bagging the second most prestigious award of the festival. However, the film didn’t emerge as India’s official entry for the Oscars.
‘All We Imagine as Light,’ is an Indo-French co-production. Chalk and Cheese Films and Another Birth from India and Petit Chaos from France have produced the title. Recently, Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media acquired the Indian rights to distribute the film to Indian theatres.
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Meanwhile, The MAMI Mumbai Film Festival will close with another film that was lauded at Cannes- Sean Baker’s ‘Anora.’ Other titles premiering in the World of Cinema section are Pedro Almodovar’s ‘The Room Next Door,’ and ‘Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud.’ Moreover, Leos Carax’s ‘It’s Not Me,’ Hong Sangsoo’s ‘A Traveler’s Needs,’ ‘An Urban Allegory’ by Alice Rohrwacher and JR, and India Donaldson’s ‘Good One’ will also screen.