Beyond Bollywood: A brief history of Indian cinema at Cannes
The 2018 Cannes Film Festival was a big let down for most American audiences. After the public feud with Netflix and the imposition of medieval rules such as the selfie ban, the whole festival felt underwhelming this year. The coverage by the US media was especially caustic and the fact that only two American movies made it to the competition just meant that the Land of Liberty was disenchanted by the fading sheen of Cannes. But this was not the case for many other regions of the world. If you followed the coverage of Indian English media, you will have seen that the stars have never shined brighter. The much anticipated film Manto was released with a lot of fanfare (directed by Nandita Das). It is a biopic about the legendary Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto, one of the most admired literary figures of the subcontinent.
Manto screened in Un Certain Regard and received a four-minute standing ovation. Positive coverage in Indian media contrasted with US reception of the festival that year. The film offered a sharp look at the Partition-era writer whose stories still resonate across borders, and Indian press framed the premiere as proof that the country’s arthouse output could stand on its own terms.
Major Milestones Since 2018
Neecha Nagar took the Grand Prix at the very first Cannes in 1946, a shared win that placed Indian cinema on the map before most festival regulars had heard the name. That early recognition set a quiet precedent. Decades later, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light claimed the Grand Prix in 2024, the first Indian entry in main competition since the early 1990s. The win capped a steady climb that moved from sidebar slots to the center of the official program.
Rise of Regional and Independent Voices
Indian selections in 2026 included features in Punjabi and Marathi alongside a restored classic and a student short. The mix showed how regional languages now travel alongside Hindi titles without translation crutches. Independent directors working outside studio systems carried several of those projects, reinforcing the festival’s long-standing interest in voices that skip the multiplex circuit back home.
Documentary and Short Film Contributions
Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes earned the L’Œil d’Or in 2022 for its portrait of two brothers caring for injured birds in Delhi. Payal Kapadia’s earlier documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing took the same prize in 2021. On the short side, Chidananda S. Naik’s Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know won La Cinef Premier Prix in 2024. These wins widened the footprint beyond features and gave Indian nonfiction work a consistent place on the Croisette.
Industry Support and Infrastructure Growth
NFDC, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and FICCI have backed an expanded India pavilion and coordinated delegations each year. That support helped secure multiple official selections for 2026 plus several Marché du Film projects. The infrastructure now includes market screenings, co-production meetings, and targeted hospitality that keeps Indian producers in the room when deals get made.
Indian cinema at Cannes has moved from occasional guest to recurring presence with measurable wins across sections. The 2018 moment with Manto now reads as one chapter in a longer run that includes regional experiments, documentary honors, and the occasional Grand Prix. The contrast between US skepticism and Indian optimism in 2018 still holds, but the ledger since then shows steady accumulation rather than isolated peaks.
