Oscar-nominated Iranian director Jafar PanahiIt was just an accidentHe is scheduled to again face trial in Iran on charges of “propaganda against the regime.”
Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran ordered his retrial, after he was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and a two-year ban from making films. Panahi was out of the country at the time promoting It was just an accidentWhich won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best International Film about France.
After the Oscars, Panahi returned to Iran, as he always said, entering the country on March 30. And across the border in the midst of the ongoing war between the United States, Israel, and the Iranian regime.
Panahi was summoned to a court hearing in Iran on May 20 as part of a retrial.
Panahi spent 86 days in Iran’s notorious Evin prison in 2022 and 2023 on anti-government activity charges dating back to 2010. He was released after a hunger strike and successful appeal that led to the original charges being dropped.
In prison, Panahi met activist and political prisoner Mehdi Mahmoudian and they collaborated on the film’s script It was just an accident. The film revolves around a former political prisoner who kidnaps a man he believes is his executioner and then discusses with other dissidents whether to kill him or forgive him.
Mahmoudian was rearrested earlier this year and detained for 17 days on charges of “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” He was arrested after writing an opinion piece condemning the government’s violent crackdown on protesters. The Iranian government carried out large-scale massacres against civilians, killing tens of thousands.
Iranian film journalist Mansour Jahani was the first to report on Panahi’s retrial.
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