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It Was Just an Accident film image; bride and groom sitting on the edge of an open car trunk in the desert

It Was Just an Accident

Un Simple Accident

Special Presentations

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What’s intended as a small act of kindness instead sets a traumatized everyman on a twisting path of revenge in this morally complex, psychologically astute thriller from the legendary Jafar Panahi. Having offered some late-night assistance to Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi) in the wake of an auto accident, Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) grows convinced that he recognizes the supposed stranger’s voice as that of his torturer during a grueling prison spell. Enlisting others who endured interrogation at the hands of the same callous tormentor, Vahid abducts Eghbal and tries to motivate himself to brutally balance the scales of justice. But Eghbal insists, and quite compellingly so, that Vahid’s vigilantes have the wrong man.

Of course, Panahi is well-acquainted with the wraith of Iranian authorities. Directed in the wake of his latest incarceration for criticizing the government, It Was Just an Accident sees Panahi retaining his cutting sense of humour when it comes to cruel twists of fate, while drawing on an overt sense of outrage. Deserved winner of Cannes’ Palme d’Or, his latest is a dizzying, uncompromising tour-de-force.

 

Palme d’Or, Cannes 2025; Oscar Submission: France

Director

Jafar Panahi

Cast

Vahid Mobasseri, Ebrahim Azizi, Madjid Panahi, Maryam Afshari, Hadis Pakbaten, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Credits
Country of Origin

Iran/France/Luxembourg

Year

2025

Language

In Farsi with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
105 min
Action Award Winners Drama Legendary Filmmakers
Les Films Pelléas, Jafar Panahi Productions, Pio & Co, Bidibul Productions, ARTE France Cinéma

Book Tickets

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Credits

Producer

Philippe Martin, Jafar Panahi

Screenwriter

Jafar Panahi

Cinematography

Amin Jafari

Editor

Amir Etminan

Production Design

Leila Naghdi

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