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All We Imagine as Light film image; two woman examine an orange container

All We Imagine as Light

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The lives of three women nurses are front and centre in Payal Kapadia’s luminous Mumbai-set drama. Prabha (Kani Kusruti) works long hours to avoid thinking about her husband, who left for Germany long ago and eventually stopped calling. Her younger roommate, Anu (Divya Prabha), spends her evenings with her Muslim boyfriend, while dodging calls from her parents, who are looking to set her up with a Hindi husband. Meanwhile, Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), an older widow, is being pushed out of her home by greedy property developers.

Winner of the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (a historic first for an Indian film), All We Imagine as Light derives considerable power from its steady accumulation of quotidian detail. As a minor character puts it in a line of poetry, “My dreams are made of everyday things.” A moving portrait of resistance and camaraderie, it is a film that finds beauty and solace in the unlikeliest of places.

Captioned Screening
The Wednesday, Nov 27 screening is a Captioned Screening. Our Wednesday matinee Captioned Screenings welcome Deaf and hard of hearing audiences, along with anyone who benefits from captions. Films will screen with subtitles or (when available) open captions.

A glorious film.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

The beats of All We Imagine as Light are calibrated with hypnotic grace creating a rhythm that induces pure pleasure.

Sophie Monks Kaufman, Indiewire

Director

Payal Kapadia

Cast

Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon, Azees Nedumangad

Credits
Country of Origin

India/France

Year

2024

Language

In Malayalam and Hindi with English subtitles

Awards

Grand Prix, Cannes Film Festival

19+
115 min
Petit Chaos

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Credits

Producer

Thomas Hakim, Julien Graff

Screenwriter

Payal Kapadia

Cinematography

Ranabir Das

Editor

Clément Pinteaux

Production Design

Piyusha Chalke, Yashasvi Sabharwal, Shamim Khan

Original Music

Dhritiman Das

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