'Didn't have money'—Payal Kapadia on 'All We Imagine...'s limited release
What's the story
Globally acclaimed filmmaker Payal Kapadia, who directed All We Imagine As Light, recently spoke about the struggle for a wide release in India.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, she acknowledged the team's monetary limitations, while also hinting at a wider release soon.
The film stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, and Hridhu Haroon, and won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Challenge
Kapadia said the team is 'trying their best'
Kapadia said, "We had the first release in Kochi, Kerala, and we got an almost hopeful response. In Chennai, too, it was good, also in Delhi and Kolkata."
"We had trouble in smaller cities because we didn't have money for marketing. Many people didn't even know that it was in their city. Now, we are trying to have a focused distribution, for example, in Guwahati."
"We are trying our best."
Stance on ONOE
Kapadia also shared her views on One Nation, One Election
Kapadia also shared her views on the proposed One Nation One Election, sharing, "It is obvious from our film that it is the diversity we want to be maintained in our country. The One Nation One election will not allow that."
"It is obvious from the film what our stance is. Multiple identities can exist together peacefully. Unfortunately, the world benefits from dividing people. As artists, we all feel diversity is beneficial for better and organic thoughts and ideas."
Oscar controversy
'All We Imagine As Light' faced Oscar snub controversy
All We Imagine As Light was mired in controversy when it wasn't selected as India's official entry for the 2025 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
The Film Federation of India instead picked Laapataa Ladies, which failed to make the shortlist.
Defending the decision, FFI jury head Jahnu Barua said that the jury found AWIAL "very poor technically."
AWIAL, meanwhile, is nominated at the upcoming Golden Globes and is among Barack Obama's favorite films of 2024.