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First Trailer for Payal Kapadia's Hypnotic 'A Night of Knowing Nothing'

by Alex Billington
February 2, 2022
Source: YouTube

"I am ashamed to admit it… but sometimes I think that they are punishing us for going on strike." The Cinema Guild has unveiled an official trailer for an indie experimental documentary film titled A Night of Knowing Nothing, the feature debut of Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia. The film won the "Golden Eye" Award in the Directors' Fortnight at last year's Cannes Film Festival, with the jury saying: "We were all won over by a film with a strong artistic vision, which combines the personal and the political in a hypnotic way. For a first film, that makes it even more amazing." Through fictional love letters found in a cupboard at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), we meet L, a film student writing to her estranged lover while he is away, returning to his home village. Gradually we're immersed in the drastic changes taking place in the lives of young people across the country as they take to the streets to protest widespread discrimination. I'm curious to see how her story connects with the resistance theme at the core of this trailer. Have a look.

Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Payal Kapadia's doc A Night of Knowing Nothing, on YouTube:

In her debut feature film, artist / filmmaker Payal Kapadia deftly merges reality with fiction, weaving together archival footage with student protest videos to tell the story of "L", a student at the Film and Television Institute of India, writing to her estranged lover while he is away. Gradually we're immersed in the drastic changes taking place at the film school and in the lives of young people across the country. Kapadia's A Night of Knowing Nothing is a vital tapestry of the personal and the political, an essential document of contemporary India and a nostalgic look at youth fighting the injustice of their time. A Night of Knowing Nothing is directed by Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, making her feature directorial debut with this after a few other short films and cinema projects previously. Produced by Ranabir Das, Julien Graff, and Thomas Hakim. This initially premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival last year playing in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar. The Cinema Guild will debut A Night of Knowing Nothing in select US theaters starting on February 11th, 2022 this winter. For more info on the release, visit their official site. Curious?

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