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‘All We Imagine As Light’ has won the appreciation of audiences around the world, with the film being screened at the Cannes Film Festival, as director Payal Kapadia won the Grand Prix award for the film. It was also shortlisted for India’s entry to the Oscars, as it gained appreciation for bringing a fresh and authentic story to the big screen. The film stars Kani Kusrati, Divya Prabhu, and Chhaya Kadam in lead roles.
Director Payal Kapadia explained that she came up with the concept of the film because she wanted to show a story about chosen families people make when they have to go live in a new city for work.
“Those families are also sometimes formed because you grow into each other, and it’s a totally different kind of relationship, and these kinds of relationships are super urban – the reason they happen is because of cities.”
The two main characters, Anu and Prabha, are going through their own personal struggles as they navigate their careers as nurses in Mumbai. Kapadia shares that she wanted to make them nurses because they often have to hide their emotions.
To keep the background sound authentic and realistic, Kapadia worked closely with the sound design team.
“[I kept] the daily sounds, like the train and the highway, to create an emotion, because with the mood you are in, everything can sound different.”
One of Kapadia’s favorites scenes to film was when Anu’s character and her boyfriend Shiaz go to Muhammad Ali Road to eat kebabs, because of the style in which the scene was shot. Due to not receiving permits to bring an entire crew to that road, Kapadia had to use guerilla filming techniques to complete the scene.
“They [the two actors] put a small sound recorder in their pockets, and said that we will consistently be in character, and roam around like Anu and Shiaz. Then in the middle, we would all stop and eat jalebis, and it was so fun.”
While cost is a driving factor for a guerilla style filming technique when running into a permitting issue, Kapadia also explained that there’s an unpredictable factor to it as well that works to her benefit.
“Reality is more wonderful than cinema – there’s so many things to chance.”
The film releases in the U.S. on November 15th, and you can watch the trailer here!
