All We Imagine as Light director Payal Kapadia named Jury president for Cannes Critics' Week

Payal Kapadia will return to the Cannes Film Festival for the third consecutive time. Her film, All We Imagine as Light, won the Grand Prix in 2024.

Payal Kapadia has been announced as the president of the jury for the 65th Cannes Critics' Week, which runs parallel to the main festival and nurtures emerging voices in cinema.

Payal to return to Cannes

Payal will lead a panel of international jury members, including Quebecois actor Théodore Pellerin, singer-songwriter Oklou, Ghanaian-British producer Ama Ampadu, and journalist and director of the Bangkok World Film Festival Donsaron Kovitvanitcha.

The festival sidebar, known as 'Semaine de la critique', is organised by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. The 65th edition will run from May 13 to 21.

"At a time where independent cinema is being eroded in every country, supporting the first works of filmmakers is almost a resistance to the market forces. Film criticism is one of the key components of the independent and art house film ecosystem.

"The first films are often freer, more daring and fearless, having an individual voice and to champion those is absolutely essential. First films are also fragile and to be nurtured in a section like Critics Week, helps them blossom amongst already established filmmaker's work," Kapadia said in a statement.

About Payal's films

The Indian writer-director's All We Imagine As Light won the Grand Prix in 2024 and was also the first Indian film in the Cannes competition in 30 years. In 2025, she was part of the Cannes competition jury that decides the festival's top prize. It went to Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident.

All We Imagine As Light is an Indo- French production which follows the life of a nurse Prabha (essayed by Kani Kusruti), who receives an unexpected gift from her long estranged husband. In between, her younger friend and roommate, Anu (essayed by Divya Prabha) is on a lookout for a quiet spot with her lover. That’s when the two women decide to go on a road trip to a beach town where they find space for their dreams and desires to flow. The film received rave reviews and won numerous international awards.

Meanwhile, Payal's short films Afternoon Clouds and And What is the Summer Saying were selected at the Cinéfondation and the Berlinale. Her first feature documentary, A Night of Knowing Nothing, was selected at the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes in 2021 and won L'Oeil d'Or for Best Documentary.

The Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 12 to May 23. South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook has been named president of the jury for the main competition. He is best known for his film Oldboy. His last directorial release was No Other Choice in 2025.