Cannes 2025: Payal Kapadia appears for photocall as part of jury panel with Halle Berry, Jeremy Strong

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia returned to the Cannes Film Festival this year, but as a jury member. She appeared for a photocall at the opening ceremony.

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia on Tuesday made an appearance for a photocall at the opening ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival as part of the prestigious gala's jury panel. She was joined by renowned celebrities from across the world. (Also Read: 5 Indian films to be screened at Cannes Film Festival 2025: Tanvi The Great, Homebound, Aranyer Din Ratri)

Juliette Binoche, Jury President of the 78th Cannes Film Festival and Jury members Carlos Reygadas, Payal Kapadia, Leila Slimani, Halle Berry, Jeremy Strong, Dieudo Hamadi, Alba Rohrwacher and Hong Sang-soo pose during a photocall before the opening ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.(REUTERS/Stephane Mahe)

Payal Kapadia's return to Cannes as jury

This marks Payal's return to Cannes a year after she charted history as the first Indian director to win the Grand Prix for her debut feature film All We Imagine As Light, a joint India and France production. The Malayalam-Hindi movie became the first film from India to be part of the Cannes Competition after a 30-year gap.

For the photocall, Payal appeared alongside Cannes jury president and French cinema star Juliette Binoche, American actor and filmmaker Halle Berry, Italian actor Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani, Congolese director-producer Dieudo Hamadi, Korean director and screenwriter Hong Sangsoo, Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas and American actor Jeremy Strong.

Payal chose a blue blouse and a red asymmetrical skirt ensemble by designer Payal Khandwala, who also dressed the director for her appearance on the red carpet of the Golden Globes 2025 ceremony earlier this year.

About Cannes

The Cannes jury panel will award its top prize, the Palme d'Or, to one of the 21 films in Competition. Winners will be announced on May 24 at the festival's closing ceremony.

In the past, Indian film personalities such as Mrinal Sen, Mira Nair, Shekhar Kapur, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nandita Das, Sharmila Tagore, Vidya Balan, and Deepika Padukone have served on the Cannes jury. Indian films like Aranyer Din Ratri, Tanvi The Great, Homebound, Charak, and A Doll Made Up Of Clay will be screened at Cannes this year.