Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia continues to shine by winning the Best Director honor at Harper’s Bazaar’s prestigious Women of the Year Awards for her remarkable film All We Imagine as Light. The awards, which took place on Saturday, October 19 in Mumbai, celebrates leading women across various fields. It recognized Kapadia for his visionary direction and contribution to global cinema.

In her acceptance speech, Kapadia expressed her gratitude, saying, “Thank you so much for this recognition. It’s wonderful to be in this room with so many women I admire, and it feels really powerful to be in your company. I make films that are about women and female friendship, so it’s especially nice to receive this award, thank you very much.”

This awards ceremony had a unique feature. Each Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Award winner presented the award to the winner of the next category of high-achieving women, thus creating a chain of empowerment. Payal presented the award to singer Jonita Gandhi.

This achievement follows their historic win at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. Kapadia won the Grand Prix at Cannes for All We Imagine as Light. Recently, she also featured in the Time100 Next 2024 list.

All We Imagine as Light has been praised for its inspiring storytelling, blending dreamy visuals with profound themes that resonate with audiences around the world. Kapadia’s distinctive cinematic voice, which often explores the intersection of memory, identity and dreams, continues to receive wide acclaim.

All We Imagine as Light revolves around the story of two nurses from Kerala, Prabha and Anu, who live together in Mumbai. It stars Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha in lead roles.

Other winners of the night included Kriti Sanon, Ananya Panday, Payal Kapadia, Jonita Gandhi, Anaita Shroff Adajania and others.