A Night of Knowing Nothing - Payal Kapadia

Payal Kapadia’s A Night of Knowing Nothing is a hypnotic hybrid film that intertwines a love story with a portrait of contemporary India. Framed through letters from the unseen L to her estranged lover K, the film moves between intimate fragments and raw documentary footage shot by herself and filmmakers and fellow students throughout the country. Evoking the spirit of Ritwik Ghatak and other greats of Indian cinema without nostalgia, Kapadia (an alumna of the Film & Television Institute of India) transforms their dreamlike aesthetics into a resonant reflection on the challenges facing India’s youth. Urgent and poetic, the film confirmed Kapadia as one of today’s most daring new voices, fulfilling the promise of her celebrated early short works.