“It Was Just an Accident” filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to one year in prison in Absentia in Iran.
The Palme d’Or winner was also hit with a two-year travel ban and prohibition of Panahi membership in any political or social groups, his lawyer Mostafa Nili told AFP in an interview on Monday.
According to Nili, Panahi was charged with engaging in “propaganda activities” against the country. However, no further details were shared. He did add that “Mr. Panahi is outside Iran right now.”
The Iranian director won the Palme d’Or as the best film in competition at the festival, the Cannes jury announced back on May 24.
Panahi, who spent almost 20 years in prison or under house arrest in Iran for making anti-government films, was allowed to leave the country and go to the festival for the first time in more than two decades with the film, which deals with victims of oppression who abduct a man they believe was their torturer in prison.
After its premiere, Neon acquired distribution rights to the film, which now means that the company has distributed the last six consecutive Palme d’Or winners, beginning with “Parasite” in 2019 and also including “Titane,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and last year’s winner, “Anora.”
Panahi landed in the U.S. for the New York Film Festival on Sept. 30 after he was initially unable to enter the country due to visa processing issues related to the government shutdown.
The holdup forced Panahi to miss both an Oct. 2 screening of his film at the NYC festival and an Oct. 3 conversation with Martin Scorsese. His chat with Scorsese has been moved to Friday following his ability to attend the festival. Panahi’s visa troubles came a day after the U.S. government shut down when Congress failed to pass a federal budget for the 2026 fiscal year. New York Film Festival told ticket holders at the time that Panahi would not be in attendance for the New York premiere or conversation.
