In this years’ 77th Cannes Film Festival, India marks a phenomenal feat as 2 filmmakers, an actress and a cinematographer won top awards at the world’s leading film festival for the first time in three decades informed PIB.
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Payal Kapadia’s Indian film titled, ‘All We Imagine as Light’ which centres around the lives of two nurses, was nominated for the Palme d’or, the highest award in the festival. Kapadia’s film won the Grand Prix, the second position in the category. With this win Payal Kapadia, a FTII alumnus, becomes the first Indian to bag this prestigious award. This comes after 30 years when Shaji N Karun’s ‘Swaham’ competed for highest honour.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has granted Payal’s film official Indo-French co production status under the signed Audio-Visual treaty between India and France. Additionally, the Ministry in Maharashtra (Ratnagiri and Mumbai) has also granted the permission to shoot the film. The film received Interim approval for 30% of the Qualifying Co-production expenditure under the Incentives Scheme of the Government of India for Official Co-production.
Chidananda S Naik, a student of Film and Television Institute of India also claimed the first prize in the La Cinef section for “Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know”, which is a 15-minute short film based on a Kannada folklore. The FTII film is a production of the FTII’s TV Wing’s One-year program where four students from different disciplines i.e. Direction, Electronic Cinematography, Editing, Sound worked together for one project as a year-end coordinated exercise.
Chidanand S Naik was also selected as one of the 75 Creative Minds at 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), an initiative of Ministry of I&B to recognise and support budding young artists in the field of Cinema before he joined the FTII in 2022. It is important to note that an India-born Mansi Maheshwari’s Bunnyhood, an animated film, bagged the third prize in the La Cinef Selection.
Shyam Benegal, one amongst the world famous directors was also celebrated for his work. Benegals’ Manthan, which has reached 48 years since its release was showcased at the Cannes in the classic section. It is currently preserved at the National Film Archives of India (NFDC-NFAI under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and restored by the Film Heritage Foundation.
Santosh Sivan, a renowned Cinematographer, known for his rich body of work in the Indian cinema became the first Asian to be awarded the prestigious Pierre Angénieux Tribute award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in recognition of his “career and exceptional quality of work”. Furthermore, Anasuya Sengupta also became the first ever Indian to win the Best Actress award for her performance in ‘The Shameless’ in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ category.
Maisam Ali, an independent film maker who is also a FTII alumnus also shined in the festival as his film “In Retreat” was screened at the ACID Cannes sidebar programme. It was the first time an Indian film was screened in the section run by the Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema, since its inception in 1993.
The Indian Cinema witnessed a groundbreaking history at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, but especially for the Film and Television Institute of India as it celebrates the accomplishment of its alumni’s Payal Kapadia, Santosh Sivan, Maisam Ali and Chidanand S. FTII is an autonomous institute under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and functions as a society with the financial support from Central Government.
The Central government promotes the film sector by way of facilitation through single window clearance, joint production with different countries, supporting education in the filed of Cinema through its autonomous institutes such as Film and Television Institute of India and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute or multi-faceted efforts in establishing India as the content hub of the world. Such promotions and support is bringing forth beneficial results to both national and international stage.
Further, this year the NFDC set up the Bharat Pavilion under the aegis of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at the Cannes Film Festival. The Pavilion acted as a platform and a catalyst for Indian filmmakers, producers, film companies to discuss projects with international film corporations, producers and buyers, through a series of meetings and panel discussions. More than 500 B2B meetings were held at the Pavilion through the course of the festival, which hold the promise of future collaborations and co-productions. It acted as the centre point of a multitude of activities throughout the festival days.
It was also for the first time that India hosted the Bharat Parv in Cannes, an evening that celebrated India’s presence on the global stage as a content hub and an emerging creative economy. More than 250 delegates from across the world participated in this event that saw the official launch of the 55th IFFI poster.
As one of the largest film producing Nation with a thriving Film industry, Indian Film makers have fetched huge accolades at this years’ Cannes.
