Payal Kapadia – an FTII alumnus – created history as she bagged the Grand Prix for her feature debut All We Imagine As Light at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. She is the first Indian to receive the honour. FTII, on their social media, congratulated her for her win. Actor Ali Fazal took a dig at the film school.

FTII posted, “It is a moment of pride for FTII as its Alumni create history at Cannes. As we witness a phenomenal year for Indian Cinema at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, FTII cherishes the glorious achievements of its Alumni at this Mega International Stage of Cinema.” To this, Ali Fazal wrote, “Uhhh… please don’t. Just dont. (sic)”

During her time in FTII, Payal was one of the students who took part and led the 139-day-long protest at the campus against the appointment of BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as the Chairperson of FTII. Disciplinary action was taken against Payal. Along with her fellow students, she was denied a scholarship. A number of X users recalled this incident on social media on Sunday as the country celebrated her win. This explains Ali Fazal’s dig.

This is not Payal’s first Cannes outing. In 2017, her short film Afternoon Clouds was selected for a screening at the festival. In 2021, she returned to Cannes with her documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing. She won the Golden Eye Award for the best documentary that year.

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