At the Tokyo International Film Festival, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia participated in a discussion with renowned Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. The two directors conversed about Kapadia’s recent film “All We Imagine As Light”, which won the Grand Prix award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Kore-eda served on the jury that awarded Kapadia’s film at Cannes, and he told the filmmaker that her film stood out for its calm storytelling approach among the louder competition entries. Kapadia’s debut narrative explores the lives of two women from Kerala living in Mumbai and their complex relationship as roommates from different generations navigating difficult love situations.
During the conversation, Kapadia described her film as focusing on themes of friendship and finding one’s own family. She noted that families in India can be both supportive but also challenging at times. Kapadia also discussed her approach to sound design and intimacy in storytelling.
She aims to give viewers the feeling that someone is gently speaking into their ear. Additionally, the filmmaker addressed the difficulties of pursuing independent films in India due to a lack of institutional support. Many film school graduates end up working in mainstream Bollywood or South Indian cinema for financial reasons.
Kapadia’s multilingual film reflects Mumbai’s diversity, as it uses several Indian languages. India has 26 official languages, and Mumbai is a city where many tongues can be heard. The director wanted the film to accurately portray this multilingual nature.
Despite India not selecting Kapadia’s film as its Oscar submission, she feels satisfied with the film’s journey and accolades achieved so far, including successful screenings at festivals worldwide. The conversation between the directors launched TIFF’s lounge series, which will include additional discussions between prominent filmmakers over the course of the festival.
