It Was Just an Accident 2025

Jafar Panahi is one of the greatest artists of contemporary cinema and one of its most empathetic and committed humanists. Winning the Palme d’or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival with It Was Just An Accident, the Iranian cineaste entered an exclusive party of three directors who nabbed the highest accolades at the three major European film festivals, Cannes, Berlin and Venice (after Michelangelo Antonioni and Robert Altman). Beyond the acclaim and the awards, what makes Panahi’s eleventh feature memorable is its balance between unabashed criticism of the Iranian regime and humane compassion.

The film opens with a family of three, father, pregnant mother and daughter, driving at night, when suddenly, their car hits something. That may be the accident referred to in the title. But when the limping father seeks help at a garage, the noise of his walk is accidentally heard by a man who had been imprisoned and tortured by the regime. He recognizes the sound identifying his much feared torturer and decides to take action, escalating a bigger accident involving other political prisoners who all never saw the face of their tormentor.

In the last two decades, Panahi faced his share of problems with the regime: banned from filmmaking, he himself was sentenced and imprisoned. With It Was Just An Accident, he frontally addresses the violence of the regime and of its willing officials, as well as the desire of revenge of the victims. But as the minimizing title implies, Panahi tempers the anger with irony and leads the audience on a revealing journey punctuated by dramatic turns and unexpected twists. Ultimately, Panahi shows us that we can stay human only by seeking justice and truth rather than vengeance. And yet, his masterly finale reminds us that Evil may be always just one step behind us… — Paolo Bertolin