Cannes 2024: India’s shining moments at this year’s film festival | Bollywood

Cannes Film Festival 2024 was an eventful one for India. With Indian films breaking boundaries and making history on the global stage, this year’s festival was truly unforgettable. From Payal Kapadia bringing glory to the festival to Anasuya Sengupta opening a new chapter in Indian acting history, India shone at the 77th edition of the festival. (Also read: Cannes Film Festival 2024 was a landmark moment for Indian cinema. Is the industry taking notice?)

The festival, which concluded on May 25, had a ton of Indian vibes. Here are some of the proudest moments for India.

Payal Kapadia wins the grand prize

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia made history by winning the Grand Prix for her feature directorial debut, “All We Imagine As Light.” She is the first Indian filmmaker to win the Grand Prix award. The film won the festival’s second most prestigious award after the Palme d’Or. In fact, her film was the first Indian film in 30 years to be directed by an Indian woman and the first film to be screened in the main competition.

Anasuya Sengupta wins Best Actress award

Actress Anasuya Sengupta has opened a new chapter in Indian cinema by becoming the first Indian actress to win the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. She won the award in the Un Certain Regard category for her performance in Bulgarian director Konstantin Boyanov’s The Shameless, which tells the story of a woman who escapes from a Delhi brothel after stabbing a police officer to death.

Bharat Parva celebrations land in Cannes

Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, hosted the first ever Bharat Parva, a celebration of Indian culture, cuisine, crafts and cinema.

The event was organised by NFDC in collaboration with FICCI under the aegis of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

Shyam Benegal’s Manthan gets restored

The restored version of Shyam Benegal’s classic film Manthan starring the late Smita Patil made a spectacular splash at the Cannes Film Festival. Inspired by Dr Varghese Kurian’s groundbreaking milk cooperative movement that transformed India into one of the world’s largest milk producing countries, the restored version of the 1976 film was screened in the Cannes Classics section. After its premiere, the film received a five-minute standing ovation. Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Smita Patil’s son Prateek Babbar and Varghese Kurian’s daughter Nirmala Kurian attended the festival event.

Santosh Sivan wins Pierre Angenieux Excellens Award

National Award-winning cinematographer Santosh Sivan became the first Asian to receive the Pierre Angénieux Tribute Award at the festival. The honour was bestowed in recognition of his “career and the exceptional quality of his work”. He accepted the award from actor Preity Zinta.

FTII student’s film wins award

The first to be heralded at the festival was the film “Sunflower”, made by students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), which won the La Cinef award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Chidananda S. Naik, the film is based on a Kannada folktale about an old woman who steals a rooster. As a result of the old woman’s actions, her son stops progressing in the village. Meanwhile, the animated film “Bunnyhood” competed in the La Cinef category and bagged third place. “Bunnyhood” is directed by director Mansi Maheshwari.