Payal Kapadia is a filmmaker from Mumbai, India. Trained at the Film and Television Institute of India, she has directed a non-fiction film A Night of Knowing Nothing which premiered at the Director’s Fortnight section in Cannes in 2021 where it won the Golden Eye Documentary Award. Her first fiction feature film All We Imagine As Light (2024) is an ode to friendship and Mumbai. It was the first Indian film in Cannes competition after a thirty-year absence. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes and has continued its run to the Golden Globes 2025 (nominations for Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film) and won numerous awards, including Best Film Prize at the Asian Film Awards 2025 in Hong Kong.
Payal Kapadia
India
A Night of Knowing Nothing
An Indian film student writes letters to her boyfriend from whom she was forcibly separated. She reflects on her daily life, disillusionments, and inner thoughts—her voice blending with images of unrest in university campuses, press clippings, and archival footage from Narendra Modi’s rise to power.