Cannes: Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s revenge drama It Was Just An Accident has clinched the coveted Palme d’Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, marking a triumphant return for the acclaimed director who had been barred from filmmaking for 15 years by the Iranian government.
With this victory, Panahi achieves a rare feat—winning the top prizes at all three of Europe’s major film festivals. He previously received the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2015 for Taxi and the Golden Lion at Venice in 2000 for The Circle.
The 64-year-old director, who last attended Cannes in person in 2003, dedicated the award to the people of Iran.
“Hoping that we will reach a day when no one will tell us what to wear or not wear, what to do or not do,” Panahi said, referencing Iran’s rigid Islamic dress code for women and broader restrictions on personal freedom.
His remarks also echoed the national unrest that erupted following the 2022 death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating hijab regulations. The incident sparked the most widespread protests the country had seen since the 1979 revolution.
Despite multiple imprisonments and years of suppression, Panahi told Reuters he always intended to return home.
“Win or not, I was going to go back either way. Don’t be afraid of challenges,” said the director, who continued making films clandestinely during his 15-year ban, which was recently lifted.
He described the screening of his latest work at Cannes as a deeply emotional experience.
“Every moment was thrilling,” he said, recalling the joy of watching the film with a live audience after years in isolation from international cinema circles.
It Was Just An Accident tells the story of a garage owner who impulsively kidnaps a one-legged man resembling his former prison torturer, forcing him to confront a moral dilemma. The film becomes only the second Iranian production to win Cannes’ top honor, following Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry in 1997.
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Jury president Juliette Binoche praised the film’s powerful message:
“Art mobilizes the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope and new life,” she said while announcing the winner.
Other Major Awards
The festival’s closing ceremony concluded smoothly despite earlier disruptions from a prolonged power outage in the Cannes area.
- The Grand Prix, the festival’s second-highest honor, went to Sentimental Value by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier.
- The Jury Prize was jointly awarded to Sound of Falling, a multi-generational family drama by Germany’s Mascha Schilinski, and Sirat, a father-son desert journey by Franco-Spanish director Oliver Laxe.
- Brazil’s The Secret Agent secured two major awards: Best Actor for Wagner Moura and Best Director for Kleber Mendonça Filho.
“I was having champagne,” Mendonça Filho said with a laugh after rushing back to the stage to collect his second trophy. - Best Actress was awarded to newcomer Nadia Melliti for her role in The Little Sister, a coming-of-age tale centered on the daughter of Algerian immigrants in Paris.
- Best Screenplay went to Belgium’s Dardenne brothers for their drama Young Mothers.
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Outside the main competition, several Hollywood heavyweights made appearances:
- Spike Lee brought his new feature Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington.
- Tom Cruise appeared for the screening of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, possibly his final installment in the franchise.
- Washington received a surprise honorary Palme d’Or on Monday night, while Robert De Niro was honored with a previously announced award during the opening ceremony on May 13.
