India Shines at 77th Cannes Film Festival with Historic Wins

Cannes: India’s performance at the 77th Cannes Film Festival has been phenomenal, with two filmmakers, an actress, and a cinematographer winning top awards at the world’s leading film festival. As one of the largest film-producing nations with a thriving film industry, Indian filmmakers have garnered significant accolades this year.

For the first time in 30 years, an Indian film, Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” was nominated for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest award. Centered around the lives of two nurses, Kapadia’s film won the Grand Prix, securing the second position in the category. Payal Kapadia, an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), becomes the first Indian to win this prestigious award since Shaji N. Karun’s “Swaham” competed for the highest honor 30 years ago.

Kapadia’s film was granted official Indo-French co-production status by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting under the Audio-Visual treaty between India and France. The Ministry also provided permissions for shooting in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri and Mumbai. Additionally, the film received interim approval for 30% of the qualifying co-production expenditure under the Government of India’s Incentives Scheme for Official Co-production.

FTII student Chidananda S. Naik won first prize in the La Cinef section for “Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know,” a 15-minute short film based on Kannada folklore. This FTII production involved collaboration among students from various disciplines, including Direction, Electronic Cinematography, Editing, and Sound, as part of a year-end coordinated exercise. Before joining FTII in 2022, Naik was selected as one of the 75 Creative Minds at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), an initiative by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to support budding artists in cinema. Notably, India-born Mansi Maheshwari’s animated film “Bunnyhood” secured third prize in the La Cinef selection.

The festival also celebrated the work of renowned director Shyam Benegal. After 48 years since its release in India, Benegal’s “Manthan,” preserved by the National Film Archives of India (NFDC-NFAI under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and restored by the Film Heritage Foundation, was showcased at Cannes in the Classics section.

Acclaimed cinematographer Santosh Sivan, known for his extensive work in Indian cinema, became the first Asian to receive the prestigious Pierre Angénieux Tribute award at Cannes 2024. This award recognizes his “career and exceptional quality of work.”

Anasuya Sengupta made history as the first Indian to win the Best Actress award in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ category for her performance in “The Shameless.”

Additionally, independent filmmaker and FTII alumnus Maisam Ali had his film “In Retreat” screened in the ACID Cannes sidebar program. It was the first time an Indian film was featured in this section, run by the Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema, since its inception in 1993.

This historic year for Indian cinema at the 77th Cannes Film Festival has been particularly significant for FTII, whose alumni, including Payal Kapadia, Santosh Sivan, Maisam Ali, and Chidanand S. Naik, achieved remarkable success. FTII, an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, functions as a society with financial support from the Central Government.

The Central Government’s priority to promote the film sector through single-window clearance, joint productions with various countries, and support for cinema education through autonomous institutes like FTII and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute is yielding positive impacts on both national and international stages.