| All We Imagine as Light | |
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Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Payal Kapadia |
| Written by | Payal Kapadia |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ranabir Das |
| Edited by | Clément Pinteaux |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Languages | Malayalam Hindi Marathi |
| Box office | $3.2 million[1] |
All We Imagine as Light (Malayalam:പ്രഭയായ് നിനച്ചതെല്ലാം,romanized: Prabhayaay Ninachathellam) is a 2024drama film written and directed byPayal Kapadia. The cast includesKani Kusruti,Divya Prabha,Chhaya Kadam andHridhu Haroon. FeaturingMalayalam,Hindi, andMarathi dialogue, it is aninternational co-production involving companies from France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy.
The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the77th Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2024, where it was nominated for thePalme d'Or and won theGrand Prix.[2][3] It was the first film from India to compete in the main competition sinceSwaham in 1994.[4]
It received alimited release inKerala, India, on 21 September 2024,[5] before opening nationwide on 29 November 2024 to positive reviews.[6] It topped theSight & Sound poll for best film of 2024 and was named one of the top five international films of 2024 by theNational Board of Review.[7][8] At the82nd Golden Globe Awards, the film received two nominations, forBest Foreign Language Film andBest Director.[9] It was also nominated for theBAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language.
Malayalis Prabha and Anu are nurses living together inMumbai. Prabha is straitlaced and reserved, and yearns for her husband, who lives inGermany and visitedIndia only once for a shortarranged marriage, but has not contacted her in over a year. Anu is more outgoing and is having a secret affair with aMuslim man named Shiaz.[10]
One day, Prabha and Anu receive a modernrice cooker from an unknown sender; the cooker is made in Germany. A doctor, Manoj, tries to woo Prabha, but she rejects his advances, claiming hermarital status.
Prabha tries to help Parvaty, the cook at their hospital, fight against a construction company who wants to demolish herchawl to build a skyscraper. Unable to claim legaltenancy, Parvaty decides to quit her job and move back to her village nearRatnagiri. Prabha and Anu travel with her, to help her relocate.
Unbeknownst to Prabha and Parvaty, Shiaz has followed Anu. Then they meet and secretly come together in a private place. He kisses her lips and neck. Anu feels shy, with a tingling sensation running through her. In that impulse, she kisses him intensely, and they engage in sexual intimacy.
They secretly meet up, which Prabha discovers. Later they have sex. Meanwhile, Prabha rescues a middle-aged man from drowning by performingCPR. While he is waiting for the local doctor, Prabha cleans and cares for him. She sees the man she rescued as her husband. He apologises for abandoning her and seeks her forgiveness, but she tells him that she does not want to see him ever again.
That night, at abeach shack, Prabha asks a surprised Anu to invite Shiaz to sit with herself and Parvaty. They all chat happily, as the lights of the shack shine over them.
The film was produced by Thomas Hakim and Julian Graff through their French-based company Petit Chaos, in co-production with the Indian companies Chalk & Cheese and Another Birth, as well as by the Netherlands's BALDR Film, Luxembourg's Les Films Fauves, Italy's Pulpa Films and France'sArte France Cinéma. Hakim first met Kapadia at the68th Berlin International Film Festival in 2018. This was the first feature film produced by Chalk & Cheese, which previously produced commercials for nine years.[4][11]
Kapadia used money from theHuub Bals grant andCinéfondation to reside in Europe in order to plan the film production with Hakim. Financing for the film was obtained fromArte,Cineworld,CNC, Condor,Eurimages, Gan Foundation, Hubert Bals Fund, Luxbox, Pulpa Film, and Visions Sud Est.[4]
Filming was done inMumbai over the course of twenty-five days and then inRatnagiri for fifteen days.[4]

All We Imagine as Light was selected to compete for thePalme d'Or at the2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 23 May,[12] and received an eight-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening.[13][14] This is the first film from India to compete in the main competition at Cannes sinceSwaham in 1994, and Kapadia is the first Indian female filmmaker to do so.[4] It won theGrand Prix, becoming the first Indian film to do so.[15]
On 9 September 2024, it was announced that Spirit Media, founded by Indian actorRana Daggubati, had acquired Indian distribution rights to the film.[16] Spirit Media announced that the film would begin its Oscar-qualifying release with a limited theatrical release in Kerala starting on 21 September under the Malayalam title 'പ്രഭയായ് നിനച്ചതെല്ലാം' i.e.Prabhayay Ninachathellam.[17]
The film was selected as the opening film for theMAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024,[18] and was released theatrically in India on 22 November 2024.[19][20]
Janus Films and distribution partner Sideshow acquired the North American rights for the film on 20 May 2024,[21] and released the film on 15 November 2024 in New York and Los Angeles, with a nationwide expansion following its opening.[22] The film was also played at theToronto International Film Festival on 5 September 2024.[23] It was released in France by Condor Distribution on 2 October 2024.[24] It was featured in the accolades section of the55th IFFI,[25][26] and Limelight section of the54th International Film Festival Rotterdam screened on 30 January 2025.[27] The film made its digital release throughDisney+ Hotstar from 3 January 2025.[28]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,100% of 158 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Capturing the here and now of modern India with the spontaneity of a candid photograph,All We Imagine as Light is a lustrous achievement that announces Payal Kapadia as an essential filmmaker."[29]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 93 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[30] OnAlloCiné, the film received an average rating of 3.8 out of 5, based on 31 reviews from French critics.[31]
Peter Bradshaw, writing inThe Guardian, gave the film five stars and praised it as an "absorbing story of three nurses that is full of humanity".[32] Nicholas Barber, writing in theBBC, also gave the film five stars.[33]
The British film magazineSight & Sound named it the best film of 2024 in its poll of over 100 critics worldwide.[7] It was also ranked 1st in the Best Movies of 2024 list fromThe New York Times, withManohla Dargis writing that Kapadia "incorporates images of everyday people milling through the city, images that connect her characters to a sea of humanity and, by extension, to those of us watching."[34]
The film was ranked 5th among the top 25 European works of 2024 by the journalists atCineuropa.[35]
FilmmakersMiguel Gomes,Ciro Guerra,Don Hertzfeldt,Raven Jackson,Karyn Kusama,Laura Poitras andWalter Salles cited the film among their favorite films of 2024.[36][37]
In June 2025,IndieWire ranked the film at number 58 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)."[38]
For the97th Academy Awards,All We Imagine As Light was not selected to be submitted by either France or India, with the former submittingEmilia Pérez, and the latter submittingLaapataa Ladies. The film had been shortlisted for France's submission.[39] TheFilm Federation of India's (FFI) decision to not submit the film was unexpected, withNPR's Diaa Hadid remarking that the film's international reception had "garnered raised hopes that India might finally have a serious contender for an Oscar in the best foreign film category".[40] Many like Naman Ramachandran ofVariety drew comparisons to India's decision to not selectThe Lunchbox (2013) andRRR (2022) for its Academy Awards submissions, particularly in light of the film's success at theCannes Film Festival with it having won the Grand Jury Prize.[41]
At the initial news announcing the selection ofLaapataa Ladies, FFI president Ravi Kottarakara explainedAll That We Imagine As Light's exclusion, saying "The jury said that they were watching a European film taking place in India, not an Indian film taking place in India."[42] Justifying its selection, the FFI noted onLaapataa Ladies, "Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance. Well-defined, powerful characters in one world, a Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly, though in a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way."[42] Kapadia responded to the controversy by expressing her appreciation for Kiran Rao's works, saying toIndiewire "I just think it’s really great that there are two films from India that are doing this well, and they’re both by women."[43]
On December 17, the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences released its shortlist for a variety of categories, including bestInternational Feature Film, and India's selection (Laapataa Ladies) was not selected, triggering a renewed discussion on the decision to "snub" the film.[44] Industry figures like directorHansal Mehta andRicky Kej publicly voiced their discontent with the FFI's decision to not sendAll We Imagine As Light, with the former sarcastically remarking "Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable."[45]
In light of the renewed controversy following the release of the Academy Award shortlist,Jahnu Barua, the head of the 13-member all-male jury remarked to theHindustan Times that people ought to be "respectful of the process".[46] Elaborating on the decision to not considerAll That We Imagine As Light, Barua said "The jury felt that her film was very poor technically."[46]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannes Film Festival | 25 May 2024 | Palme d'Or | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | [47] |
| Grand Prix | Won | [48] | |||
| Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai – Special Mention | Won | [49] | |||
| Sydney Film Festival | 16 June 2024 | Best Film | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | [50] |
| Munich International Film Festival | 6 July 2024 | Best International Film | Nominated | [51] | |
| Jerusalem Film Festival | 25 July 2024 | International Competition | Nominated | [52] | |
| San Sebastián International Film Festival | 28 September 2024 | RTVE-Another Look Award | Won | [53] | |
| Chicago International Film Festival | 27 October 2024 | Gold Hugo | Nominated | [54] | |
| Silver Hugo – Jury Prize | Won | [55] | |||
| Montclair Film Festival | 28 October 2024 | Fiction Feature Prize | Won | [56] | |
| Cahiers du Cinéma | 2024 | Annual Top 10 | 5th Place | [57] | |
| Kyiv International Film Festival "Molodist" | 2 November 2024 | Best Full Length Film | Won | [58] | |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 30 November 2024 | Best Film | Thomas Hakim, Julien Graff, Payal Kapadia | Nominated | [59] |
| Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Nominated | ||||
| Best Performance | Kani Kusruti | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Ranabir Das | Nominated | |||
| Jury Grand Prize | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [60] | ||
| Gotham Awards | 2 December 2024 | Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | [61] [62] |
| Best International Feature | Payal Kapadia, Thomas Hakim, Julien Graff | Won | |||
| New York Film Critics Circle | 3 December 2024 | Best International Film | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [63] |
| National Board of Review | 4 December 2024 | Top Five International Films | Won[a] | [64] | |
| British Independent Film Awards | 8 December 2024 | Best International Independent Film | Payal Kapadia, Thomas Hakim, Julien Graff | Nominated | [65] |
| Astra Film Awards | 8 December 2024 | Best International Feature | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | [66] |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association | 8 December 2024 | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | [67] | |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | 9 December 2024 | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | [68] | |
| Chicago Film Critics Association | 11 December 2024 | Milos Stehlik Award for Breakthrough Filmmaker | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | [69] [70] |
| Best Foreign Language Film | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |||
| Film Comment Magazine | 12 December 2024 | Best Film | Won | [71] | |
| Phoenix Critics Circle | 13 December 2024 | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | [72] | |
| St. Louis Film Critics Association | 15 December 2024 | Best International Feature Film | Nominated | [73] | |
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | 15 December 2024 | Best International Feature Film | Nominated | [74] | |
| Toronto Film Critics Association | 15 December 2024 | Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Runner-up | [75] |
| Best Original Screenplay | Won | ||||
| Best International Feature | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |||
| New York Film Critics Online | 16 December 2024 | Best International Feature | Won | [76] | |
| Indiana Film Journalists Association | 16 December 2024 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | [77] | |
| Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association | 18 December 2024 | Best Foreign Language Film | 3rd place | [78] | |
| Dublin Film Critics' Circle | 19 December 2024 | Best Film | Nominated | [79] | |
| Black Film Critics Circle | 19 December 2024 | Best Foreign Film | Won | [80] | |
| Philadelphia Film Critics Circle | 21 December 2024 | Best Foreign Film | Won | [81] | |
| Florida Film Critics Circle | 21 December 2024 | Best International Film | Won | [82] | |
| Best Ensemble | Nominated | ||||
| Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | |||
| Online Association of Female Film Critics | 23 December 2024 | Best International Feature | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [83] |
| North Texas Film Critics Association | 30 December 2024 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | [84] | |
| Columbus Film Critics Association | 2 January 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | Runner-up | [85] | |
| North Carolina Film Critics Association | 3 January 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | [86] | |
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle | 4 January 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | [87] | |
| DiscussingFilm Critic Awards | 4 January 2025 | Best International Feature Film | Runner-up | [88] | |
| Greater Western New York Film Critics Association | 4 January 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | [89] | |
| National Society of Film Critics | 4 January 2025 | Best Film | Runner-up | [90] [91] | |
| Best Film Not In English Language | Won | ||||
| Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Won | |||
| Golden Globe Awards | 5 January 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | [92] |
| Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | |||
| Georgia Film Critics Association | 7 January 2025 | Best International Film | All We Imagine as Light | Runner-up | [93] |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | 7 January 2025 | Best International Film | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | [94] [95] |
| Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | ||||
| Best Woman Director | Won | ||||
| Best Woman Screenwriter | Won | ||||
| Utah Film Critics Association | 11 January 2025 | Best Non-English Feature | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | [96] |
| Puerto Rico Critics Association | 12 January 2025 | Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | [97] |
| Best International Feature | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |||
| Hawaii Film Critics Society | 13 January 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | [98] | |
| North Dakota Film Society Awards | 13 January 2025 | Best International Feature | Nominated | [99] | |
| Houston Film Critics Society | 14 January 2025 | Best Foreign Language Feature | Nominated | [100] | |
| Portland Critics Association | 14 January 2025 | Best Film Not in the English Language | Nominated | [101] | |
| Women Film Critics Circle | 15 January 2025 | Best Movie About Women | Nominated | [102] | |
| Best Foreign Film By Or About Women | Nominated | ||||
| Best Movie By Women (Directing) | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | |||
| Best Women Storyteller ( Screenwriting Award) | Runner-up | ||||
| Chicago Indie Critics | 18 January 2025 | Best International Film | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | [103] |
| Lumière Awards | 20 January 2025 | Best Film | Nominated | [104] | |
| Denver Film Critics Society | 24 January 2025 | Best Non-English Language Feature | Won | [105] | |
| Girls on Film Awards | 26 January 2025 | Best Feature Film | Nominated | [106] | |
| Best Female Friendship on Screen | Won | ||||
| Ensemble Cast Award | Nominated | ||||
| Online Film Critics Society | 27 January 2025 | Best Film Not in the English Language | Won | [107] | |
| Göteborg Film Festival | 29 January 2025 | International Competition | Nominated | [108] | |
| London Film Critics' Circle | 2 February 2025 | Film of the Year | Nominated | [109] [110] | |
| Foreign Language Film of the Year | Won | ||||
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | 7 February 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | [111] | |
| Directors Guild of America Awards | 8 February 2025 | Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | [112] |
| International Cinephile Society | 9 February 2025 | Best Picture | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [113] |
| Best Ensemble | Won | ||||
| Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Won | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Runner-up | ||||
| Best Actress | Kani Kusruti | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Chhaya Kadam | Nominated | |||
| Divya Prabha | Nominated | ||||
| Best Cinematography | Ranabir Das | Nominated | |||
| Best Editing | Clément Pinteaux | Nominated | |||
| Dorian Awards | 13 February 2025 | Non English Film Of The Year | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | [114] |
| British Academy Film Awards | 16 February 2025 | Best Film Not in the English Language | Nominated | [115] | |
| Vancouver Film Critics Circle | 19 February 2025 | Best International Film in Non-English Language | Nominated | [116] | |
| Independent Spirit Awards | 22 February 2025 | Best International Film | Nominated | [117] | |
| Online Film & Television Association | 23 February 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | Runner-up | [118] | |
| VHS Awards | February 2025 | Best Film | Nominated | [119][120] | |
| Best Director | Payal Kapadia | 2nd Place | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Won | ||||
| Best Actress | Kani Kusruti | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Divya Prabha | Nominated | |||
| Asian Film Awards | 16 March 2025 | Best Film | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [121] |
| Best Director | Payal Kapadia | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Nominated | ||||
| Best Actress | Kani Kusruti | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Divya Prabha | Nominated | |||
| Best Editing | Clément Pinteaux | Nominated |
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