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Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” has won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. This victory is a remarkable turnaround for Panahi, who has faced imprisonment and house arrest in Iran and been banned from directing. He celebrated the win with visible joy, soaking in the applause of the audience.
“It Was Just an Accident,” a tense drama about a torturer abducted by his victims, will be released by Neon in 2025. This marks Neon’s sixth consecutive Palme d’Or win, a remarkable feat.
Previous winners distributed by Neon include “Parasite” (2019), “Titane” (2021), “Triangle of Sadness” (2022), “Anatomy of a Fall” (2023), and “Anora” (2024). The 2020 festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During his acceptance speech, Panahi, speaking through a translator, reflected on the fundamental human drive to create art, comparing it to the uninhibited expression of children.
This year’s Cannes jury, led by French actress Juliette Binoche, included notable figures like American actors Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, Indian director Payal Kapadia, and Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo.
The Grand Prix, Cannes’ second-highest honor, went to Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” a family drama. The Jury Prize was awarded to both Oliver Laxe’s “Sirât” and Mascha Schilinski’s “Sound of Falling,” marking another tie in the award’s history.
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Brazilian crime thriller “The Secret Agent” garnered two awards: Best Director and Best Actor for Wagner Maura. Nadia Melliti won Best Actress for her performance in “The Little Sister,” a coming-of-age story about a French Algerian teenager in Paris.