MRAC Cinema Club presents All We Imagine As Light

Followed by refreshments Film release date: 2024 Film language: Malayalam, Hindi, Maharathi

Auditorium, Brolga Theatre

Written and directed by Payal Kapadia, the first female Indian film maker, this film was premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in 2024. It was nominated for the Palme d’Or, but won the Grand Prix – the first Indian film to do so. Set in Mumbai, the film tells the story of 2 nurses – Prabha, whose husband from an arranged marriage is in Germany and who she barely knows, and Anu, who is secretly having an affair with a Muslim man. Prabha tries to help Parvati, a cook at the hospital, whose slum dwelling is threatened with demolition.

Parvati decides to resign and return to her village and the 2 nurses go with her to help with the relocation. Various events unfold back in the village.

Reviews were generally positive, with one comment being that the film ‘… captured the here and now of modern India’.