Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” Selected as France’s Official Oscar Entry
It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi (Bidibul Productions, ARTE, Les Films Pelléas, Pio & Co)
Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s latest feature, It Was Just An Accident, was recently named as France’s official entry for the Best International Feature category at the 98th Academy Awards.
Based on his own time in an Iranian prison, Panahi’s new thriller centers on the life of Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), an Azerbaijani auto mechanic, who was blindfolded and interrogated by Iranian authorities. A chance encounter with a man named Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi) in his workshop leads Vahid to believe him to be one of his former torturers.
It Was Just an Accident was part of the official French film selection at the 48th Mill Valley French Festival, co-presented by Villa Albertine San Francisco. The film has received several prestigious awards, including the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Film Prize at the Sydney Film Festival.
Acclaimed for films including Taxi (2015), 3 Faces (2018), and No Bears (2022), Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has longstanding ties with France, where his work has been widely supported and celebrated. It Was Just An Accident, deepens this connection as it was co-produced in France by Les Films Pelléas, with the support of Arte France Cinéma. This collaboration highlights the important role France continues to play in making Panahi’s singular and courageous cinema accessible to international audiences.
The selection of the Persian-language feature, follows the success of France’s Spanish-language entry last year, Emilia Perez, which took home two awards in the Best Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldaña) and Best Original Song (“El mal”) categories.
It Was Just An Accident was part of the new features presented at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival. The film will be screened in the U.S. at the New York Film Festival on October 2 – 3, and 8. and will be released on October 15 by Neon.
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