Iran’s Jafar Panahi Dedicates Gotham Award To Filmmakers “Deprived Of The Right To See And Be Seen” As He Wins For Original Screenplay And International Feature
Jafar Panahi dedicated his Gotham Award for Best Screenplay for It Was Just An Accident “to independent filmmakers in Iran and around the world” the same day the Iranian director was sentenced in absentia earlier today to one year in prison and a two-year travel ban.
His Cannes Palme d’Or-winning drama It Was Just An Accident had three Gotham Award nominations tonight with Original Screenplay the first up at the New York City ceremony. Panahi shortly after won for Best International Feature. He was also nominated for Best Director.
He has been on the awards season trail with the film, which is France’s entry to the 2026 Oscars and was released theatrically in the U.S. in October by Neon. He recently started a tour of major cities including LA, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and New York City to present the film. Neon is producing a short from the road show documenting his travels for release in early 2026.
His lawyer Mustafa Nili, who announced on the sentence on X, said the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court also banned the director from membership of political and social groups due to “propaganda activities against the system.”
Panahi didn’t refer to the sentence directly but recalled all the “filmmakers who keep the camera rolling in silence, without support, and at times, by risking everything they have, only with their faith in truth and humanity.”
“I hope that this dedication would be considered a small tribute to all filmmakers who have been deprived of the right to see and to be seen, but continue To create and to exist.”
Panahi had two stints in prison and was banned from practicing his craft for 20 years, meaning he had to shoot his films in secret, including this last. Appearing with Martin Scorsese at the New York Film Festival this fall where It Was Just An Accident screened, he lamented all the great directors who had to flee the country.
“It was really difficult to bear … All the backbones of Iranian filmmaking are out. I really miss all those films that they could have made in Iran and they never did,” he said then, adding, “I don’t have the courage and I don’t have the ability to leave Iran and stay out of Iran. I have stayed there and I’m going to work there.”
In It Was Just An Accident, an unassuming mechanic named Vahid has a chance encounter with Eghbal, a man he strongly suspects of being a sadistic guard during his time in prison. Panicked, with the seed of a doubt, he gathers several former prisoners, all abused by the same man, to try and confirm his identity. As the diverse and bickering group drive around Tehran with their captive, they must confront how far to take matters into their own hands with their presumed tormentor.
