This year’s Adelaide Film Festival (AFF2024) had something truly exciting laying in wait: a spotlight on . While many people are familiar with Bollywood, most don’t know about the vast film industry that exists beyond it. And this is no small market; India is currently the in the world.
This year’s festival delivered a variety of Indian films from regions and directors that remain underrepresented. From award-winning tales, to a poetic nature documentary, to a sweet coming-of-age story from the North East, the program promises to challenge and expand our understanding of what Indian cinema can offer. Of all the films I saw, these five spoke to me the most.
All We Imagine As Light Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner, , was the film that I’d most looked forward to – and it turned out to be as dreamlike as its title promised. It’s an ode to the city of Mumbai, also known as India’s “dream-making factory” (and where Bollywood is based). Mumbai is where Indians from all states and of all languages come to fulfil their dreams.
The story follows three female nurses, Prabha (Kani Kusruti), Anu (Divya Prabha) and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), who come to Mumbai looking for a better life. Yet they find themselves struggling to belong in a city that refuses to embrace them. As Kapadia : “The film is about not being able to see a way out when one is surrounded by darkness [.
..] that hope doesn’t exist if you have never seen it.
” Kapadia’s storytelling brings a .
