Payal Kapadia to head Cannes panel; backs independent cinema

Los Angeles, April 22 (IANS) Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, whose film ‘All We Imagine as Light’ bagged the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, is set to return to the festival.

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, whose film ‘All We Imagine as Light’ bagged the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, is set to return to the festival.However, this time, she will serve as president of the jury for the 65th edition of Critics’ Week in Cannes Film Festival, reports ‘Variety’.She will be joined on the jury by Quebecois actor Theodore Pellerin, singer-songwriter Oklou, Ghanaian-British producer Ama Ampadu, and journalist and director of the Bangkok World Film Festival Donsaron Kovitvanitcha.Payal Kapadia has, over the course of six short and feature-length films, “crafted a body of work where poetry contrasts with her unflinching political take on her country” Critics’ Week said in a statement.“This duality underpins the power of her cinema, a universe that summons all forms to convey folk myths, and bring to the fore invisible lives, class struggle, and the realities of women’s lives”, they added.As per ‘Variety’, after studying directing at the Film & Television Institute of India in Pune, her short films ‘Afternoon Clouds’ and ‘And What Is the Summer Saying’ were selected at the Cinefondation and the Berlinale.Her first feature documentary ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’ was selected at the Directors’ Fortnight in 2021 and won L’Oeil d’Or for Best Documentary. In 2024, the Cannes Film Festival awarded the Grand Prix to her second feature, ‘All We Imagine as Light’.She said, “My own journey as a filmmaker was supported early on because of film festival selections. Through these I had the opportunity to meet others like myself from across the world and helped me build a community of future collaborators. At a time where independent cinema is being eroded in every country, supporting the first works of filmmakers is almost a resistance to the market forces”.“Film criticism is one of the key components of the independent and art-house film ecosystem. The first films are often freer, more daring and fearless, having an individual voice and to champion those is absolutely essential. First films are also fragile and to be nurtured in a section like Critics’ Week, helps them blossom amongst already established filmmaker’s work”, she added.