‘It Was Just An Accident’ by Iran’s Jafar Panahi wins Cannes’ top prize
Wagner Moura won best actor for his role in ‘The Secret Agent’, while best actress went to Nadia Melliti in ‘The Little Sister’
Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s revenge thriller It Was Just an Accident won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, handing the festival’s top prize to a director who had been banned from leaving Iran for more than 15 years.
Cate Blanchett presented the award to Panahi, who three years ago was imprisoned in Iran before going on a hunger strike. The crowd rose in a thunderous standing ovation for the filmmaker.
The win for It Was Just an Accident extend one of the most unprecedented streaks in film: the indie distributor Neon has backed the last six Palme d’or winners.
Neon, which acquired It Was Just an Accident for North American distribution after its premiere in Cannes, follows its Palmes for Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall and Anora.
Panahi, who was banned from making films in 2010, used his own experiences in jail to write the screenplay.
“Let’s set aside all problems, all differences. What matters most right now is our country and the freedom of our country,” he told the VIP-studded audience on the French Riviera.