'All We Imagine as Light' named best international film by New York Film Critics

Payal Kapadia's ‘All We Imagine as Light’ continued its award winning spree by being named the best international film by New York Film Critics Circle just days after the movie won in the same category at the Gotham Awards.

This is the third international recognition for the Malayalam-Hindi film in just a week as it won the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) 2024 before her wins at the two major New York-set awards.

The movie, Kapadia's feature debut, became the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival.  Though it was not picked up by the selection committee in India to represent the country in the Oscars category, many are pinning their hope for the movie to garner recognition at the 2025 Academy Awards in general categories.

‘All We Imagine as Light’ is being distributed in the US by Janus Films and Sideshow. Rana Daggubati's Spirit Media released the film across India. Starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha and Chhaya Kadam, Kapadia's film explores love, longing and loneliness in the bustling city of Mumbai through three women, two Malayali nurses, Prabha and Anu, and their friend Parvati.

Prabha's life is thrown in disarray when she receives a rice cooker from her husband who is in Germany. Anu is struggling to find a private spot in the city to be with her boyfriend. Prabha's best friend Parvati, a widow, is being forced out of her home by property developers.

Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan production's ‘Laapataa Ladies’ (Lost Ladies), will represent India at the Oscars. At NYFCC, ‘The Brutalist’ was named the best picture and its star Adrien Brody the best actor. Best director award went to RaMell Ross for ‘Nichel Boys’ and best screenplay trophy was given to Sean Baker for ‘Anora’.