India’s performance at 77th Cannes Film Festival has been phenomenal with two filmmakers, an actress and a cinematographer won top awards at the world's leading film festival. As one of the largest film producing nation with a thriving film industry, Indian film makers have fetched huge accolades at this years’ Cannes. For the first time in 30 years an Indian film, Payal Kapadia's ‘All We Imagine as Light’ which centers around the lives of two nurses, was nominated for the Palme d'or, the highest award in the festival.
Kapadia's film won the Grand Prix, the second position in the category. With this win Payal Kapadia, a FTII alumnus, becomes the first Indian to bag this prestigious award. This comes after 30 years when Shaji N Karun’s ‘Swaham’ competed for highest honour.
Payal’s film was granted official Indo-French co production status by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, under the signed Audio-Visual treaty between India and France. Permission for shooting of the film was also granted by the Ministry in Maharashtra (Ratnagiri and Mumbai). The film received Interim approval for 30 per cent of the Qualifying Co-production expenditure under the Incentives Scheme of the Government of India for Official Co-production.
Film and Television Institute of India's student Chidananda S Naik bagged the first prize in the La Cinef section for “Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know”, a 15-minute short film based on a Kannada folklore. This FTII film is a .
