Why Payal Kapadia’s Rise At Awards Season Feels Like A Personal Win

Filmmaker Payal Kapadia has been nominated in the first-time director category at the upcoming 2025 Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards for her film All We Imagine As Light. Earlier, Kapadia made history as the first Indian woman nominated for the Best Director Motion Picture category at the Golden Globe Awards; however, she lost it to Brady Corbet, who took home the honour for The Brutalist.

Payal Kapadia Nominated For First-Time Director At 2025 DGA Awards

The DGA, an influential entertainment guild that advocates for the interests of film and television directors both in the US and internationally, revealed the nominations on Wednesday, January 8, recognising Kapadia's achievement in filmmaking.

Moreover, in May 2024, she made history as the first Indian filmmaker to earn a Grand Prix award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious filmmaking titles. In 2021, she bagged the prestigious Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) at the 74th Cannes Film Festival for her directorial A Night of Knowing Nothing. 

Payal Kapadia On All We Imagine As Light

All We Imagine As Light traces the lives of three women working as nurses in Mumbai, navigating their relationships, friendships, and selves. Starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, and Hridhu Haroon, the acclaimed film is a meditative and poignant exploration of individual struggles and collective resilience. 

Speaking to SheThePeople in a November 2024 interview, Payal Kapadia described the raw narration of female relationships in the film. "I’ve been enriched by friendships with women of different ages. But our culture often pits women against each other due to internalised patriarchy," she shared. Through her films, she seeks to question these ingrained notions, it reveals how women can become each other’s strongest allies.

She also shared that the film stems from her perception of hope amid our differences. “Hope is about bridging differences, about finding connection despite our divides. It’s about women who begin by misunderstanding one another but eventually learn to coexist and support each other. If we can do that, there’s progress. And that’s what keeps me going,” 

From Rebel Student To History-Maker

A graduate of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Kapadia represented her alma mater on the world stage with her big win, earning the premier institution recognition. The Indian Embassy in France, commemorating Kapadia's award, offered congratulations to both her and FTII.

But the central place FTII appears to occupy in Kapadia's journey as an award-winning filmmaker is actually built of layered complexities, the context for which goes back to when she was a third-year student on campus in 2015.

That year, the appointment of actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman of the institute sparked wide opposition. Agitated students, alleging Chsauhan's presence as FTII chief was a political bid to "saffronise" functions on campus, launched protests that spanned 139 days - the longest in the history of the government institute.

Among those spearheading it was Payal Kapadia.

How Payal Kapadia's Fight As A Student Protestor Sweetens Her Achievement

A Film Direction student then, Kapadia was a prominent member of the dissenting group boycotting classes and staging strikes demanding a shutdown of administrative offices until such time that Chauhan was removed from his post. As the four-month-long protests stirred a national storm, support poured in extensively for the students, including from India's film industries.

Reportedly, Kapadia was also among those accused of confining FTII director Prashant Pathrabe and an FIR was filed against her and others for the same. The students later made bail.

Owing to this record of "disciplinary issues," the institute cut off funding and scholarships for several students involved in the protests. It would have been a lost golden opportunity for Kapadia then when her short film Afternoon Clouds was picked for screening at the 70th Cannes in 2017. Without financial backing from the institute, talent wouldn't make it to the global arena.

The same year Chauhan's tenure came to an end. A proud FTII stood in solidarity behind Kapadia, clearing her travel funds to France for the film festival. Four years later, in 2021, Kapadia's journey came full circle with her Cannes Golden Eye victory. 

Views expressed by the author are their own.