Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who spent 15 years barred from traveling by the Tehran government, made a poignant return to the Cannes Film Festival’s red carpet on Tuesday evening for the premiere of his latest film, It Was Just An Accident, which is competing in the festival’s main competition. Panahi’s last in-person appearance at Cannes was in 2003 when his film Crimson Gold was screened in the Un Certain Regard section. This time, he was joined by his wife, daughter, and several cast members, including the film’s lead actor, Vahid Mobasseri.
Now 64 years old, Panahi has faced years of legal restrictions and arrests due to his outspoken filmmaking, which has often been critical of the Iranian regime. Although he has not been officially sanctioned in recent years and has no ongoing court cases according to a spokesperson, his history includes a 2010 Iranian court sentence that banned him from making films or traveling abroad for 20 years after being convicted of “propaganda against the system.” Despite these challenges, Panahi has continued to work under difficult and often secretive circumstances.
After the premiere at the Grand Lumiere Theatre, Panahi was visibly emotional, dedicating It Was Just An Accident to Iranian filmmakers who remain banned, especially highlighting female directors and actors supporting women’s rights activists in Iran. In a recent interview, Panahi revealed that although his bans have been lifted, he still must operate discreetly and sometimes illegally to continue his art.
The film’s story centers on Vahid, portrayed by Mobasseri, a man who kidnaps another man with a prosthetic leg resembling that of his former torturer in prison. Vahid embarks on a quest to confirm the identity of his captor by consulting other survivors of imprisonment, wrestling with his own trauma as he decides what to do with the man if he is indeed the torturer responsible for his suffering.
Jafar Panahi is internationally celebrated for his courageous and powerful cinema, having received numerous awards. His debut feature, The White Balloon, won the Cannes Film Festival’s Camera d’Or in 1995, and his 2015 film Taxi, filmed covertly in Iran while he was out on bail, earned him the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
It Was Just An Accident continues Panahi’s legacy of fearless storytelling, addressing themes of justice, memory, and resilience in the face of repression.
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