Renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi is making a highly anticipated return to the Cannes Film Festival (13–24 May) with It Was Just an Accident, a tightly guarded new feature set to world-premiere in the Official Competition. The project is shrouded in secrecy, with only a cryptic logline revealed: “What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.”
Panahi’s return to the Croisette marks a major cinematic event. Known for his politically defiant and formally innovative films, the director last appeared at Cannes in 2021 with The Year of the Everlasting Storm, an omnibus documentary presented as a Special Screening. His last competition entry at Cannes, Three Faces (2018), earned the Best Screenplay Award.
Over the years, Panahi has established himself as one of the most celebrated voices in world cinema, with a distinguished filmography that includes The Circle (Golden Lion, Venice 2000), Offside (Silver Bear, Berlinale 2006), This Is Not a Film, Taxi (Golden Bear, Berlinale 2015), and No Bears, which won the Special Jury Prize in Venice in 2022.
Despite his international acclaim, Panahi continues to face repression at home. In July 2022, he was arrested after signing a petition denouncing police violence in Iran, and he was held in detention for several months. Though a travel ban was lifted in April 2023, allowing him to briefly visit France, it remains uncertain whether he will attend the Cannes premiere of his latest film.
It Was Just an Accident is a French-Iranian-Luxembourgish co-production, produced by Panahi himself alongside Philippe Martin of Les Films Pelléas — the Paris-based company behind Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy of a Fall. The film is co-produced by Bidibul Productions (Luxembourg) and Pio & Co (France), with post-production completed in France.
International sales are being handled by mk2 Films.
As the competition lineup at Cannes promises intense cinematic discoveries, Panahi’s enigmatic return with It Was Just an Accident is poised to spark both curiosity and critical conversation — whether or not the filmmaker is present on the Croisette.
