Director Jafar Panahi, winner of the Palme d’Or for the film “ It was just a accident ”, poses for photographers during the photo call for the award ceremony at the 78th Film Festival, Cannes, South of France, Saturday May 24, 2025. (AP Photo / Natacha Pisarenko)
Natacha Pisarenko / Invision / AP
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Natacha Pisarenko / Invision / AP
The thriller of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi It was just an accident won the Golden Palme at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
Panahi received a standing ovation while the annual French event ended on Saturday after the jury, led by French actress Juliette Binoche, announced that he had won the first Cannes prize for her film – a strong criticism of oppression in his country of origin.
Panahi was arrested several times and imprisoned in Iran for denouncing the regime. His films were prohibited in the country. The director was forbidden to leave the country until 2023. And, although in 2010, he was subjected to a 20 -year cinematographic ban to “spread against the government”, he still continued to make films.
This is his first appearance of Cannes in more than two decades. He appeared for the last time in person in Cannes in 2003, when his film Crimson was detected.
In a brief speech in Persia, after the announcement of his victory, the 64 -year -old filmmaker said he dedicated It was just an accident To all the artists who were involuntarily expelled from Iran and expressed the hope that they could return to make films in their country of origin in the future.
The other winners of the this year festival include Nadia Melliti, the winner of the best actress for The little sister and Wagner Moura, who took the best actor for his role in The secret agent. Kleber Mendonça Filho won the best director’s title for this same film.
The award ceremony intervened just a few hours after a regional power failure threatened the last day of the festival. In a press release on social networks on Saturday morning, RTE, which manages the French electricity network, said that the temporary failure had assigned 160,000 houses in the Cannes region. He disrupted the morning projections of the festival and made it close the local businesses. French police investigate a possible criminal fire attack as the main cause of loss of power.
