All We Imagine As Light and Citadel Honey Bunny fail to win Critics Choice Awards 2025

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light stumbled at the last hurdle at the Critics Choice Awards 2025. The acclaimed film had been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category and was one of the favourites but eventually lost to Selena Gomez-starrer Emilia Perez. The other Indian nominee – Citadel: Honey Bunny – also lost in its category.

The two films were up against Flow (Latvia), I’m Still Here (Brazil), Kneecap (Ireland), and The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany). All We Imagine As Light won the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Indian film to do so. That made it a favourite for most international awards. However, the film has so far failed to win at the big Hollywood awards, securing nominations but not winning in both the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes.

All We Imagine As Light was not nominated at the 2025 Oscars as it was not selected as India’s official entry to the Academy Awards. The Film Federation of India instead sent Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies) for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category. However, the film also failed to secure a nomination.

All We Imagine As Light was not the only Indian nominee at the awards. Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Amazon Prime Video show Citadel: Honey Bunny was nominated for Best Foreign Language Series. But it also faltered at the final hurdle, losing to the Netflix sensation, Squid Game.