Earlier this week, the Alliance Française de Delhi invited Paya KapadiaGrand Prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival, screenings and discussions of her films Everything we imagine is light. The film is a French co-production and was one of four films shortlisted by the French Academy Committee as one of France’s official submissions for the Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category (France ultimately selected Emilia Perret s).
During the discussion, Payal spoke about the journey of making the film, her generous team and cast, and the joy she finds in filmmaking. She spoke highly of Kiran Rao’s work and avoided directly answering a question about India’s official submission for the Oscar debate between “La Pata” and “Everything We Imagine.” When asked if the film will continue its Oscar journey, Payal said that the film will be released in the United States next week and the team will decide on the next step after seeing the audience response.
“I’ve always wanted to make a movie about intergenerational friendship”
Everything We Imagine Is Light tells the story of three women working in Mumbai. She shared, “I’ve always wanted to make a film about intergenerational friendship because it’s something I think about a lot in my personal life. So the hospital space became a place where I could talk about all these different elements and think about it. Different types of friendships, because I think, one of the things I always say is, sometimes your family will let you down, but friendship is a very open relationship that transcends the limitations of your immediate identity and maybe creates a New relationships. Relationships, depend on two friends and no one else, and that’s true of everything in our lives – motherhood, fatherhood, sex, everything – but friendships are open, and that’s fine.
Stills from “The Light of Our Imagination”
“The hospital became a space where I could talk about many things”
Payal revealed that her father was often hospitalized because he suffered from dementia and had been doing so for a long time. She said, “Ever since I was a student at FTII, I was the most temperamental person in my family, so I had to sit outside in the waiting room and wait. Even though my grandmother fell, I was so, their health condition was not Seriously, but I can also be a little irresponsible, so, I realize that the people I talk to are all funny when you’re a filmmaker, but whenever I get a chance to talk. , I would talk to the nurses after they got off work, and I became friends with some of them, a lot of them – I’m friends with them by now, and a lot of them were familiar with the movie.
She added, “The hospital space was interesting to me because I could talk about a lot of other things, like contraception and the female body. The hospital became a space where I could talk about a variety of things.”
“The French funding system is structured, which makes the process less lonely”
The film is a French co-production. Speaking about France’s involvement, Payal said it was her producer Thomas Hakim who introduced her to it. She shared: “He said in France we have a different system where you can apply for funding and make the film you want to make, without market forces being the main reason for making the film. So I discovered France through The funding system: And it’s really structured, especially as an independent filmmaker, which makes the process less lonely as filmmakers working together, which also makes you feel motivated to work.
“Language is a big thing and sometimes you feel like you don’t belong here because of the dominant language”
But in terms of what I wanted to do with it, language was a big issue. Like you said, when you come to a city, the language can be alienating. For Dr. Manoj (a character in the film), he felt very lost because he could not speak the language. Language is a big thing and sometimes you feel like you don’t belong because of the dominant language. So that’s what I wanted to play with, because there’s another thing that language can do – it allows you to start talking privately in a very public space and say some weird things. Language can also create privacy when only people close to you speak another language. So I feel like, ultimately, it makes sense. I wanted to raise all these questions about language, and Malayalam became a way for me to do that. Suffice it to say, I accepted the challenge.
Chhaya Kadam composed the song that they dance to in the film. Payal shared, “It was her idea. When we did the workshop, we were like – kaun sa gaana karenge? She was like, there is such a song – and Parvati (Chhaya Kadam’s character) came back to her It feels like a weird village around, so we should try this – the line is, “Where the hell did I land? Why am I here?”
Grégor Trumel, Counselor for Education, Science and Culture of India and Director of the French Institute
Payal, you have been in Paris for eight months, so you are already Parisian… I know you love working with France and we are happy about it… You have entered the league of great international filmmakers.
Grégor Trumel, Counselor for Education, Science and Culture of India and Director of the French Institute, delivered an introductory speech.
Patricia Loison, Director of Alliance France Derry
