BFI Distribution has acquired Payal Kapadia’s acclaimed Cannes Competition title All We Imagine As Light for UK and Ireland theatrical release.
The first Indian film to be selected in Official Competition at Cannes in three decades, All We Imagine As Light was strongly received at its premiere last night and currently sits in joint first place on Screen’s closely-watched Cannes jury grid.
The film centres on two nurses with troubled relationships in Mumbai who go on a road trip to a beach town — a welcome refuge that gives them the space to grow. It stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam and Hridhu Haroon in the lead roles.
France’s Luxbox handles international sales.
Mumbai-based Kapadia’s first feature film, A Night of Knowing Nothing, premiered at the 2021 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, where it won the Golden Eye Documentary Prize.
All We Imagine As Light is a France-India-The Netherlands-Luxembourg co-production. The producers are Thomas Hakim and Julien Graff of Petit Chaos in Paris, and Zico Maitra of Chalk & Cheese Films in Mumbai. Additional partners are Arte France Cinéma, Baldr Film (Netherlands), Another Birth (India), Les Films Fauves (Luxembourg) and Pulpa Film (Italy). European development funds, including Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals grant and the Cannes Cinéfondation Residency, enabled Kapadia to reside in Europe and develop the film with her French producers, before beginning production in her native India.
The UK and Ireland all rights deal was negotiated between BFI Distribution acquisitions manager Laura Dos Santos and Luxbox head of international sales Jennyfer Gautier.
Dos Santos said: “Payal Kapadia demonstrates an impressive command of the art of filmmaking and an extraordinary ability to convey profound emotion. We came out of the first screening dizzy, with the rare certainty that we had just seen an instant classic. We strongly believe that the film’s uniqueness will beguile wide audiences in the UK and Ireland.”
BFI Distribution’s upcoming UK and Ireland releases include the French film Àma Gloria and UK films Sky Peals and Starve Acre.
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