Dissident Iranian director wins Palme d’Or at film festival

Dissident Iranian director Jafar Pahani – who has been arrested several times in Iran for his filmmaking – has won the prestigious Palme d’Or accolade at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.

The 64-year-old, who was banned from filmmaking in Iran, premiered his political thriller It Was Just an Accident on 20 May.

The film was one of 22 competing for the top prize – and was up against well-known directors including Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, and Ari Aster.

Inspired by his own experiences in prison, the film tells the story of a released dissident who kidnaps a man who resembles someone who tortured him in prison. Soon, the protagonist questions whether more violence is the right approach to ensure justice.

The filmmaker, whose appearance at the festival was his first in 15 years due to a travel ban, used his acceptance speech to speak out against the regime.

He said: “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”, in seeming reference to Iran’s strict modesty rules for women.

The 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was in the custody of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating modesty laws, led to the country’s largest civil unrest since the 1979 revolution.

The film, like the rest of his published works since 2010, was shot in secret.

The director told Reuters he vows to return to his home country after the festival – despite the risk of being prosecuted.

He said: “Win or not, I was going to go back either way. Don’t be afraid of challenges.”

Pahani has now won the top prizes at all three major European festivals – after winning the Golden Lion at Venice for The Circle in 2000, and Berlin’s Golden Bear for Taxi in 2015.