Payal Kapadia has been riding a wave since her film ‘All We Imagine As Light’, a subliminal tale set in Mumbai, won the coveted Grand Prix by the jury of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Exploring the complexities of friendship between three women at different stages of their life, the film hit UK cinemas over the weekend to sold-out shows.
In the lead up to its BFI release in London, Kapadia shared her reflections with iGlobal on the incredible journey the film has been on and how everyday struggles in life can be painful and dramatic.
How do you feel about the incredible journey of this film?
The journey of this film has been quite wonderful for all of us who are part of it. It was such an honour to win the prize at Cannes, which helped attract more interest in the film. We got distribution in India also, which is not always easy, not just for films like this but a lot of films.
I think we now have over 50 countries releasing the film. The main thing for any filmmaker is that your film gets shown to audiences. And for me, going to a cinema and watching a movie is something that I really, really hold close to my heart. That it is getting a theatrical release in so many regions, is just wonderful.
How did the title ‘All We Imagine As Light’ come about?
The title is connected to possibility, to imagining another way when you are so used to or conditioned to think in a certain way. Can you think about a way that's beyond that?
And the Malayalam title of the film is ‘Prabhayay Ninachathellam’ and Prabha means light in Malayalam. So, there’s a double meaning – it is all that Prabha (lead character Kani Kusruti) imagined or thought of.
How did you pack in so many complex layers into the story?
It's interesting because some people who don't see all these layers in the film think that it's too simple a story. They feel no catharsis happened, or that there’s nothing that happened.
But for me, life is like that. It is the smaller moments, the smaller struggles of everyday life that are the really big troubles, actually. Everyday life is painful and dramatic to live. So, that's what I wanted to focus on.
What are your thoughts about the concept of a female gaze as a filmmaker?
As a female filmmaker it's hard to really say that there is a different gaze. I think that every human being has femininity and masculinity inside them. Sometimes a male director can make a film also that has a gaze which is more feminine, or a female director can make a film that maybe does not have a feminine gaze. So, it’s quite complex.
But there is a femininity that this film is filled with, and in a world of a lot of hyper masculinity, I think that having a film which has this femininity is also important.
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What is your message as the film hits UK cinemas?
The film is about three women and their unique friendship in the city of Mumbai and how they negotiate the space and negotiate their relationship. But even though it is based in Mumbai, I think that the story is quite universal. I really hope that you come to see it and support this movie.
*Info: ‘All We Imagine As Light’
