ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
A film by Payal Kapadia
Technical Information Payal Kapadia
Working Title: All We Imagine as Light E-mail: payalskapadia@gmail.com
A film by Payal Kapadia
Director: Payal Kapadia Tel: +91 989 243 2877
Screenplay: Payal Kapadia
Genre: Drama
Shooting location: India / France
Languages: Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi
Expected dates of production: 2020-2021
Duration: 100 min
Production: Chalk and Cheese (India)
Petit Chaos (France)
Geko Films (France)
Director’s Information Festival de Cannes
Payal Kapadia is a Mumbai based filmmaker and artist. Her work deals with that which is not 5, rue Charlot, F-75003 Paris Since 2000, the Festival even first feature film, and the
easily visible, hidden somewhere in the folds of memory and dreams. It is between minor, Tel. 33 (0) 1 53 59 61 20 Residence has provided each merits of their feature film project.
ephemeral feminine gestures where she tries to find the truth that makes up her practice. Fax 33 (0) 1 53 59 61 24 year accommodation and sup- During their 4-and-a-half-month
E-mail: port to twelve selected young stay in Paris, they work on the
Her film Afternoon Clouds premiered at Cinefondation, Cannes film Festival, 2017. Her experimental
residence@festival-cannes.fr directors in order to help them writing of their feature film pro-
documentary And What is the Summer Saying had its world premiere at the Berlin International
www.festival-cannes.org prepare their first or second fea- ject, have meetings with profes-
Film Festival (2018). It went on to receive the Special Jury Prize at the International Documentary
ture film. A jury presided by a film sionals and try, with the support
Film Festival of Amsterdam (2018). Her earlier film The Last Mango before the Monsoon won
director sits twice a year, select- of the Cannes Film Festival, to
the FIPRESCI Prize at the Oberhausen Film Festival (2015).
ing these young filmmakers on bring their project to co-produc-
She is an alumnus of the Berlinale Talents Campus (2019). Her first feature is in development with the basis of their short films, or tion status.
support from the Hubert Bals Bright Futures Award as well as the CICLIC Development Fund.
One day two nurses go on a day trip to a beach-town where the mystical Deux femmes se rendent dans une ville côtière où une forêt tropicale et
forest becomes a space for their dreams to manifest. mystique devient le lieu où leurs rêves et désirs deviennent réalité.
SYNOPSIS STATEMENT OF INTENT SYNOPSIS NOTE D’INTENTION
Immigrant nurses Prabha (35) and Anu In the sticky monsoon afternoons I spent Prabha (35 ans) et Anu (23 ans) infirmières Durant la mousson, je passais ces après-
(23) live together in a tiny apartment in living with my 98-year-old grandmother immigrées, vivent ensemble dans un petit midi chauds et humides avec ma grand-
suburban Mumbai. Their days consist and her two nurses, we found nothing appartement de la banlieue de Mumbai. mère de 98 ans et ses deux infirmières.
of often-humorous encounters with better to do that to talk about our pasts. Leurs journées se résument à des rencontres Nous ne trouvions rien de mieux à faire
patients in a decrepit hospital. One day Outside our little apartment, daily episodes – souvent drôles – avec des patients dans que de parler de notre passé. A l’extérieur
a mysterious parcel arrives for Prabha, of violence were becoming common and un hôpital décrépit. Un jour, un mystérieux de notre petit appartement, les épisodes
a beautiful red rice cooker, sent to her by voices of hyper masculinity, promoted by colis arrive pour Prabha, un cuiseur à riz quotidiens de violence devenaient
her estranged husband. The arrival of this the government, wafted in through the rouge, envoyé par son mari dont elle est routiniers et des voix hyper masculines,
mundane appliance throws the nurse’s TV set. It is in these afternoons, through séparée. L’arrivée de cet appareil banal encouragées par le gouvernement,
life into disarray. She had married several our conversations that the story of Anu jette le trouble dans la vie de l’infirmière. parvenaient du téléviseur. C’est pendant
years ago, as per her father’s wish, but and Prabha emerged. A tale of impossible Elle s’était mariée il y a plusieurs années, ces après-midi, à travers nos conversa-
didn’t know much about her husband, love in a country where women find it selon le souhait de son père, mais ne tions, que l’histoire d’Anu et de Prabha a
except that he had a factory job in Germany. difficult to voice their desires, or even savait pas grand-chose de son mari, si émergé. Une histoire d’amour impossible
After a few weeks of shy efforts at love, acknowledge that these desires exist. ce n’est qu’il était employé dans une dans un pays où les femmes ont du
he departed to Europe, only to vanish Simple acts like holding your lovers hand, or usine en Allemagne. Après quelques mal à exprimer leurs désirs, ou même
completely. Prabha returned to work in saying ‘I love you’, become problematized. semaines d’essais amoureux timides, il est à reconnaître que ces désirs existent.
the city, but now, a ‘married woman’. Thus, the act of these two young women, parti en Europe et n’est jamais revenu. Des actes simples comme tenir la main
Anu has embraced the freedom of the recognizing themselves as sexual beings Prabha est retournée travailler en ville, de son amoureux ou dire « je t’aime »
city and roams its street at night with her becomes a force of political rebellion. mais maintenant, c’était une « femme deviennent problématiques. Ainsi, l’acte
Muslim boyfriend. Soon she realizes They become the characters of the story mariée ». Anu a adopté la liberté de la ville de ces deux jeunes femmes, se recon-
that this freedom is also limited as she they would like to hear, and for this brief et erre dans ses rues la nuit avec son naissant comme des êtres sexuels, devient
is unable to find a place to consummate moment, are free of the world they belong petit ami musulman. Elle se rend vite une force de rébellion politique. Elles
their affair. The two women embark on to through a collective dream. compte que cette liberté est également deviennent les personnages de l’histoire
a day trip to the beach. In the tropical limitée car elle ne trouve pas de lieu pour qu’elles aimeraient entendre et, pendant
forest there, they find a place to be free consommer leur liaison. Les deux femmes ce bref instant, sont libérées du monde
from the rules that governed their lives. s’embarquent pour une excursion d’une auquel elles appartiennent par un rêve
Slowly, this forest becomes a magical space journée à la plage. Là, dans la forêt tropicale, collectif.
for their desires and fears to manifest. elles trouvent un endroit qui les libère
des règles régissant leur vie. Lentement,
cette forêt devient un espace magique
dans lequel se manifestent leurs désirs et
leurs craintes.
