Payal Kapadia Set As Cannes Critics’ Week Jury President

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia has been announced as the president of the jury for the 65th edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.

She will be joined by Quebecois actor Théodore Pellerin, singer-songwriter Oklou, Ghanaian-British producer Ama Ampadu, and journalist and director of the Bangkok World Film Festival Donsaron Kovitvanitcha. 

Kapadia broke out internationally with her second feature All We Imagine As Light, which debuted in competition in Cannes’ Official Selection in 2024, winning the Grand Prix.

Born in 1986 in Mumbai, she studied directing at the Film & Television Institute of India. Her 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 in 2021 and won L’Oeil d’Or for Best Documentary. 

The parallel section run by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics will showcase 11 first and second features, seven of which play in competition, selected from 1,050 submissions. Another 13 short films will also be showcased, selected from 2,400 entries.

Kapadia and her jury will decide the winners of the La Semaine de la Critique Ami Paris Grand Prize for best feature film, the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for best actor or actress, and the Sony Discovery Prize for best short film.

“My own journey as a filmmaker was supported early on because of film festival selections. Through these I had the opportunity to meet others like myself from across the world and helped me build a community of future collaborators,” said Kapadia.

“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.” 

The 65th Cannes Critics’ Week will run from May 13 to 21.