Instituted at the 26th IFFK, the Spirit of Cinema Award celebrates filmmakers who use cinema to challenge oppression.
Published Dec 06, 2024 | 1:55 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 06, 2024 | 1:55 PM
Payal Kapadia to receive Spirit of Cinema Award. (X)
Indian filmmaker and Cannes Grand Prix winner Payal Kapadia is set to receive the prestigious Spirit of Cinema Award at the 29th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will present the award, which includes a cash prize of ₹5 lakh and a memento, during the festival’s closing ceremony on 20 December at the Nishagandhi Auditorium.
Payal Kapadia, renowned for her politically charged and socially conscious films, is the first Indian filmmaker to win the Cannes Grand Prix for her debut feature All We Imagine As Light, which focuses on the struggles of marginalised communities.
Her acclaimed documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing, inspired by the FTII student protests, won the Golden Eye Award at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and other international accolades.
A prominent voice during the 139-day FTII protests, Kapadia faced significant institutional backlash, including losing her scholarship.
Born in Mumbai in 1986, she studied at FTII, where her short film Afternoon Clouds earned a rare Cannes competition slot.
Instituted at the 26th IFFK, the Spirit of Cinema Award celebrates filmmakers who use cinema to challenge oppression.
Previous recipients include Kurdish filmmaker Lisa Calan, Iranian director Mahnaz Mohammadi, and Kenya’s Wanuri Kahiu. Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light will also be screened at the festival.
The film released in India on 22 November, has been having a great week worldwide, with it receiving many accolades.
On Wednesday, the film was named the Best International Film at the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC). Apart from this, on Monday, All We Imagine As Light also won the Best International Feature trophy at the reputed Gotham Awards 2024.
Sharing the news, the director wrote “This was a dream.”
This was a dream https://t.co/ieVxsAEAiF
— Payal Kapadia (@PayalKapadia86) December 3, 2024
“All We Imagine As Light is a daring and sincere movie from Payal Kapadia that speaks about the lives of three working-class women in Mumbai. The movie is realistic to its core and is definitely a masterpiece,” our review read.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula, with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman)
