Indian women make history at Cannes 2024
Anasuya Sengupta made history this year by becoming the first Indian to claim the Best Actress Award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where independent films gave Indian artists a record 6 nominations (besides the Best Actress nomination) and four wins. Sengupta was awarded for her performance in The Shameless, which competed under the Un Certain Regard category. Originally a production designer, Sengupta was approached by director Konstantin Bojanov who saw her photos on Facebook , and was convinced that she was perfect for Renuka, a sex worker in northern Karnataka whose turbulent life we follow in the film.
Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix award, the second-most prestigious award at the festival after the Palm d’Or. Payal is a returning Cannes winner, previously recognized for her documentary film A Night of Knowing Nothing in 2021.
This is the first Indian feature film to win the Grand Prix award and the first Indian contender to be nominated in a competitive category since Shaji N Karun’s Swaham in 1994. This also makes her the first Indian female filmmaker to win a major award at Cannes.
At the post-win press conference, Kapadia said, “The movie is about hope and about finding a way out even when things look a little bleak. The light in the title is synonymous with possibility, especially the possibility of a life one has never seen before.”
Indian filmmakers have also excelled in the short film or “La Cinef” category. Kannada short film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know, shot by Chidananda S. Naik in four days in challenging rural conditions, won the top prize in the category, while Mansi Maheshwari’s her 9-minute short Bunnyhood picked up the third prize.
Indian winners @ Cannes 2024
Feature Films
Grand Prix: All We Imagine as Light, Payal Kapadia
Un Certain Regard
Best Actress: Anasuya Sengupta for The Shameless
La Cinef
First Prize: Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know… by Chidananda S Nai
Third Prize: Bunnyhood by Mansi Maheshwari