''A Night of Knowing Nothing'' is a documentary film, directed by Payal Kapadia and released in 2021. An exploration of university student life in India, the film centres on letters written by L., a student at the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...

, to her estranged boyfriend after they are separated when he is forced to quit film school and denied permission from his family to continue dating L. because she is not of the same

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight stream at the

2021 Cannes Film Festival The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American director Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after t ...

, where it was named the winner of the

L'Œil d'or ''L'Œil d'or, le prix du documentaire'' — Cannes (, "The Golden Eye, The Documentary Prize — Cannes") is a documentary film award created in 2015. It is awarded to the best documentary presented in one of the sections of the Cannes Film Festi ...

award for Best Documentary Film. It was subsequently screened at the

2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...

, where it was one of the winners of the Amplify Voices Award.Steve Pond
"‘Belfast’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award"
'' TheWrap'', 18 September 2021. The film has been acquired for commercial distribution by Square Eyes.

Release

''A Night of Knowing Nothing'' premiered in the Directors' Fortnight stream at the

. It is invited at

26th Busan International Film Festival The 26th Busan International Film Festival opened on October 6 at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea with South Korean film '' Heaven: To the Land of Happiness'' by Im Sang-soo. Park So-dam and Song Joong-ki hosted the opening of the ...

and nominated for 'Busan Cinephile Award' in 'Wide Angle' section. It will be screened on 9 October 2021 in the festival.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the documentary holds an approval rating of 94% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Night of Knowing Nothing, A 2021 films 2021 documentary films French documentary films Indian documentary films 2020s French films