It Was Just an Accident

Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident sees the director returning to a more traditional narrative form, yet it is also his most daring, unflinching political work. Based on his own experience as a political prisoner, and on stories shared by fellow cellmates, the film brings together a group of Iranian citizens who debate what they should do with a man they believe tortured them in Pr*son, after a chance encounter brings them together again. Fifteen years after being banned from making films by the Iranian government, during which time he produced a remarkable run of clandestine works, Panahi courageously confronts his oppressor with a psychological drama about survival, moral choices, and political resistance.

2025. Written and directed by Jafar Panahi. With Vahid Mobasseri, Ebrahim Azizi, Mariam Afshari. DCP courtesy NEON. In Persian; English subtitles. 103 min.

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