Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ earns 2 Golden Globe nominations

Filmmaker Payal Kapadia has created history by becoming the first Indian film director ever to be nominated for a Golden Globe award.

Kapadia has been nominated for the Best Director (Motion Picture) award for her film, All We Imagine As Light, which has been nominated under the Best Motion Picture in a Non-English Language category at the Golden Globes.

“I’m deeply honored by this nomination and grateful to HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) for this recognition. This is a celebration for everyone who worked so passionately on the film. To everyone in India, All We Imagine As Light is still in theaters, please go watch it and support us,” Kapadia said.

All We Imagine As Light will compete against films such as Emilia Pérez, The Girl With The Needle, I’m Still Here, The Seed of The Sacred Fig, and Vermiglio.

For the best director in motion picture category, Kapadia will compete against Jacques Audiard  for Emilia Pérez; Sean Baker for Anora; Edward Berger for Conclave; Brady Corbet for The Brutalist; and Coralie Fargeat for The Substance.

The latest honor comes after Kapadia’s film won the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

The bilingual Malayalam-Hindi film tells the story of three working women in Mumbai.

It features Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon, and Azees Nedumangad.

All We Imagine As Light, which is Kapadia’s debut fiction work, had earlier missed out on being India’s official entry for the Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. However, it is still a strong contender for independent Oscar nominations.

Who is Payal Kapadia?

Kapadia, an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), has been known for her filmmaking as well as activism.

She first gained international limelight with her documentary, A Night of Knowing Nothing, which won the Best Documentary Award at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.

Her short film, Afternoon Clouds, was also selected for Cannes in 2017.

During her time at FTII, Kapadia led protests against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute’s chairman in 2015.

The protests had led to charges being framed against her and her fellow students.

Nominations for the Golden Globes 2025 at a glance:

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Yura Borisov (Anora)

Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)

Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)

Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)

Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)

Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Alien: Romulus (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Deadpool & Wolverine (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Gladiator II (Paramount Pictures)

Inside Out 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Twisters (Universal Pictures)

Wicked (Universal Pictures)

The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)

Sean Baker (Anora)

Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold (The Brutalist)

Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)

Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)

Peter Straughan (Conclave)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Volker Bertelmann (Conclave)

Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist)

Kris Bowers (The Wild Robot)

Clément Ducol, Camille (Emilia Pérez)

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (Challengers)

Hans Zimmer (Dune: Part Two)

Best Television Series – Drama

The Day of the Jackal (Peacock)

The Diplomat (Netflix)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)

Shogun (FX/Hulu)

Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

Squid Game (Netflix)

The 2025 Golden Globe Awards ceremony is scheduled for January 5 in Los Angeles.