Jafar Panahi called on Hollywood to support Iranian protestors during an acceptance speech at the National Board of Review Awards Gala on Tuesday. Expressing that the death and destruction in his home country is not just the stuff of movies, the “It Was Just an Accident” filmmaker lamented that protests against the Islamic Regime has become “a reality ridden with bullets, day after day.”
“The Islamic Republic has caused a bloodbath to delay its collapse. Bodies are piling up on bodies and those who have survived are searching for signs of their loved ones through mountains of corpses,” Panahi said. “This is no longer a metaphor. This is not a story. This is not a film. This is a reality ridden with bullets, day after day.”
The speech came at NBR’s annual awards gala, where Panahi received the award for Best International Film for his critically acclaimed Oscar contender “It Was Just an Accident.” The director shot his latest movie in secret in his home country of Iran, where he was recently sentenced in absentia to another year in prison. Panahi has repeatedly said that he will return home despite this sentencing after the end of awards season.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the (National Board of Review). But I cannot speak easily, because as we stand here the state of Iran is gunning down protestors and a savage massacre continues blatantly on the streets of Iran,” Panahi started at the NBR ceremony. “Perhaps cinema is supposed to make viewers laugh and cry. It is supposed to make us feel terrified and safe. Perhaps cinema must make us fall in love, then kill us with love, and teach us, and make us think. But today, the real scene is not on screens but on the streets of Iran.”
Panahi has been vocal on the awards circuit about the political turmoil of his home country. His own time in Iranian prisons and artistic restrictions in Iran heavily influenced “It Was Just an Accident,” as it influenced several of his prior films.
On Saturday, Panahi and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof (who fled the country in 2024 after being sentenced to eight years in prison) released a joint statement condemning the “blatant tools of repression” used by the Iranian government amid the brutal crackdown. On Monday, Panahi, in an exclusive conversation with TheWrap, warned that “a massacre is coming” for protestors in Iran.
“In accepting this award I consider it my duty to call on artists and members of the global film community to speak out and not remain silent. Use any voice and any platform you have. Call on your governments to confront this human catastrophe rather than turn a blind eye. Do not let blood dry in the darkness of amnesia,” Panahi said in his NBR speech. “Today, cinema has the power to stand by defenseless people. Let us stand by them.”