India's 'All We Imagine as Light' WINS Best International film at Gotham Awards; Payal Kapadia tipped to score Best Director Oscar nomination

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s 'All We Imagine as Light' scooped up the Best International Feature award at the 2024 Gotham Awards, held on Monday night in New York City.

The award show that celebrates the best in independent cinema, saw Kapadia’s film emerge as the big winner. Accepting her award, the director said in a clip, "It's our first fiction narrative feature film, so it is super nice to get this."

While it is believed that those winning at the Gotham Awards eventually go on to win big at the Oscars, 'All We Imagine As Light' will miss out in the Best Foreign Film race at the upcoming Academy Awards, as it was not submitted as India's official entry. The Kiran Rao film 'Laapataa Ladies' was selected as the country's entry, despite Kapadia's historic win at the Cannes Film Festival.



According to reports, this win will prove to be a small boost for filmmaker Payal Kapadia's chances in scoring a Best Director nomination at the Oscars.


'All We Imagine As Light' is a drama exploring themes of identity and belonging in contemporary India. The film has been receiving widespread acclaim despite being overlooked by India’s Oscar submission committee.

This year’s Gotham Awards featured a strong line-up of contenders. Leading the pack with four nominations was 'Anora', while 'Nickel Boys' and 'I Saw the TV Glow' received three nods each. Kapadia’s 'All We Imagine as Light' was among several films with two nominations, including 'His Three Daughters', 'The Brutalist', and 'Sing Sing'.


The Gotham Awards have historically served as a precursor to the Oscars, with notable Best Feature winners such as 'The Hurt Locker', 'Moonlight', and 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' went on to clinch the Academy’s top honour.

While the Gotham Awards' International Feature category does not directly correlate to Oscar success, the recognition for 'All We Imagine as Light' could boost its global profile in the upcoming awards season.