# Payal Kapadia (filmmaker)

Payal Kapadia (born 4 January 1986) is an Indian filmmaker. In 2017, her short film Afternoon Clouds was the only Indian film selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival. In 2021, she won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 74th Cannes Film Festival for her debut feature A Night of Knowing Nothing.
In 2024, she won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for her fiction feature debut All We Imagine as Light. It also earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director.

## Early life and education

Payal Kapadia was born in Mumbai on 4 January 1986 to painter and video artist Nalini Malani and psychoanalyst Shailesh Kapadia.
Kapadia went to Rishi Valley School, a boarding school in Andhra Pradesh. Here she had her first exposure to avant-garde filmmakers like Ritwik Ghatak and Andrei Tarkovsky, as she was part of the school's film club. She studied at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai,and also earned a one-year master's degree from Sophia College for Women.
She then went on to study film direction at the Film and Television Institute of India, where she was selected on her second attempt in 2012. In between for five years she worked in Mumbai, in advertising and assisting a video artist.

## Career

In 2017, Kapadia's short film Afternoon Clouds was the only Indian film selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
In 2021, she won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 74th Cannes Film Festival for her debut feature A Night of Knowing Nothing.
In 2024, Kapadia won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for her fiction feature debut All We Imagine as Light. It also earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and was a special feature in the Limelight section of the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it will be screened on 30 January 2025.

## Filmography

† – Indicates Documentary film :
| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Other | Notes |
| 2014 | Watermelon, Fish and Half Ghost | Yes | No | No | Short film |
| 2015 | The Last Mango Before the Monsoon | Yes | Yes | Editor | Short film |
| 2017 | Afternoon Clouds | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2018 | And What is the Summer Saying † | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2021 | A Night of Knowing Nothing † | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2024 | All We Imagine as Light | Yes | Yes | No | |

## Accolades

| Award | Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
| Asian Film Awards | 2025 | Best Film | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |
| Asian Film Awards | 2025 | Best Director | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Asian Film Awards | 2025 | Best Screenplay | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2021 | Best Film | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Nominated | |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2024 | Best Film | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2024 | Best Director | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2024 | Best Screenplay | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2024 | Jury Grand Prize | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |
| British Academy Film Awards | 2025 | Best Film Not in the English Language | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| British Independent Film Awards | 2024 | Best International Independent Film | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Cahiers du Cinéma | 2024 | Annual Top 10 | All We Imagine as Light | 5th Place | |
| Camden International Film Festival | 2021 | Cinematic Vision Award | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Won | |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2021 | Caméra d'Or | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Nominated | |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2021 | L'Œil d'or | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Won | |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2024 | Palme d'Or | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2024 | Grand Prix | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2024 | Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai – Special Mention | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |
| Chicago Film Critics Association | 2024 | Milos Stehlik Award for Breakthrough Filmmaker | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Chicago International Film Festival | 2024 | Silver Hugo – Jury Prize | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |
| Cinema Eye Honors | 2023 | Outstanding Nonfiction Feature | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Nominated | [35] [36] |
| Cinema Eye Honors | 2023 | Outstanding Direction | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Nominated | [35] [36] |
| Cinema Eye Honors | 2023 | Outstanding Debut | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Nominated | [35] [36] |
| Directors Guild of America Awards | 2025 | Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Fribourg International Film Festival | 2019 | Best International Short Film Award | And What Is the Summer Saying? | Won | |
| Golden Globe Awards | 2025 | Best Director – Motion Picture | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Gotham Awards | 2024 | Best Director | All We Imagine as Light | Nominated | |
| Gotham Awards | 2024 | Best International Feature | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |
| Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival | 2021 | Best Film Award | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Won | |
| Mill Valley Film Festival | 2024 | Mind the Gap Award | — | Honored | [42] [43] |
| Mirage Film Festival | 2022 | MIRAGE Award – Directing | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Won | [44] [45] |
| Montclair Film Festival | 2024 | Fiction Feature Prize | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [46] [47] |
| National Society of Film Critics | 2025 | Best Director | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [48] [49] |
| National Society of Film Critics | 2025 | Best Foreign Language Film | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [48] [49] |
| New York Film Critics Circle | 2024 | Best International Film | All We Imagine as Light | Won | |
| San Diego Asian Film Festival | 2017 | Best International Short | Afternoon Clouds | Won | |
| San Sebastián International Film Festival | 2024 | RTVE-Another Look Award | All We Imagine as Light | Won | [52] [53] |
| Taiwan International Documentary Festival | 2022 | Merit Prize | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Won | |
| Toronto International Film Festival | 2021 | Amplify Voices Award | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Won | [55] [56] [57] |
| Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival | 2023 | Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize | A Night of Knowing Nothing | Won | [58] [59] |