Earlier this week, the Alliance Française de Delhi invited Payal Kapadia, winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes, for a screening and discussion of her film All We Imagine As Light. The film, a French coproduction, was one of the four films shortlisted by France’s Oscar committee as the country’s official submission for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category (France finally selected Emilia Pérez).
At the discussion, Payal spoke about the journey of making the film, her generous team and actors, and the joy she finds in filmmaking. She spoke highly of Kiran Rao’s work and avoided giving a direct answer to questions about the Laapataa Ladies vs All We Imagine As Light debate for India’s official Oscars submission. When asked if the film would continue its Oscar journey, Payal shared that it will be released in the US next week, and after seeing the audience’s response, the team will decide on the next step.
‘I always wanted to make a film about inter-generational friendship’
All We Imagine as Light follows the story of three women working in Mumbai. She shared, “I always wanted to make a film about inter-generational friendship, because that’s something that I have thought a lot about in my personal life. So the hospital space became a place where I could talk about all these different elements and have different kinds of friendships because I think and one of the things that I keep saying is that sometimes your family lets you down, but friendship is a very open relationship. Friendship can go beyond the limitations of your immediate identity and perhaps create a new kind of bond, depending on the two friends and no one else. Everything else in our lives is so codified – mother, father, everything sex – so much weightage is put on these relationships. But friendship is open and that’s nice.”
A still from All We Imagine As Light
‘The hospital became a space where I could talk about multiple things’
Payal shared that her father is often in the hospital because he suffers from dementia, and it’s been going on for a long time. She said, “It started when I was a student at FTII, and I’m the most vella person in the family, so I had to sit and wait outside in the waiting rooms. Even with my grandmother when she had a fall, I was sent to be with her the whole time. So, and it was not like majorly difficult health situations. They were there, but I could also be a little irresponsible. So, at this time, I realised that the people I was talking to the most were the nurses in these spaces whenever I got the chance. That time I was writing my diploma film, and when you are making a diploma film, everything is interesting. Everything is anyway interesting when you are a filmmaker, but when you are in the student filmmaking zone, everything becomes cinematic. That, for me, is also the joy of being a filmmaker. Whenever I got the chance to talk, I’d chat with the nurses after their shift was over, I made friends with some of them – till now I’m friends with them. A lot of them are familiar with the film.”
She added, “The hospital space for me was interesting because I could talk about many other things, like contraception and about women’s bodies. The hospital became a space where I could talk about multiple things.”
‘The French funding system is structured and it makes the process a little less lonely’
The film is a French co-production. Talking about the participation of France, Payal shared that it was her producer, Thomas Hakim, who introduced her to this. She shared, “He said that in France we have a different system in which you can apply for funding and make the film that you desire to make without market forces being the primary reason to make the film. So I discovered the French funding system through them. And it’s really well-structured, especially as an independent filmmaker one can feel very lost. This makes the process less lonely. You can also apply for some residencies, like under a residency in Paris, where I was, I got to be with other filmmakers from around the world, and that also makes you feel like, you know, motivated to work.”
‘Language is a big thing and sometimes you feel like you don’t belong because of the dominant language’
But language was a big issue in terms of what I wanted to do with it. Like what you’re saying, when you come to a city, language can be very alienating. For Dr. Manoj (a character in the film), he feels very lost, not being able to speak the language. Language is a big thing, and sometimes you feel like you don’t belong because of the dominant language. So that was something I wanted to play with, because language can do another thing too – it allows you to start talking privately in very public spaces and say some weird things. Language can create privacy as well when only those close to you speak the other language. So I felt that, at the end of the day, it made sense. I wanted to bring up all these questions about language, Malayalam became a way for me to do that. And I took up this challenge, let’s say.”
Chhaya Kadam came up with the song that they danced to in the film. Payal shared,”It was her idea. When we were doing the workshops, we were like – kaun sa gaana karenge? She was like, there’s this one song – and Parvati (Chhaya Kadam’s character) is feeling so weird about coming back to her village, so we should try this – and the lines were, “Where the hell have I landed? Why am I here?” We also played the same song on the red carpet in Cannes because we also felt that way. (Laughs)
Grégor Trumel, Counsellor for Education, Science & Culture and Director of the French Institute in India
Payal, you have stayed for eight months in Paris, so you are a Parisian already…I understand you like working with France and we are delighted about that…You have entered the league of great international filmmakers.
Grégor Trumel, Counsellor for Education, Science & Culture and Director of the French Institute in India, in his introductory address.
Patricia Loison, Director,Alliance Française de Delhi
