{"id":94422,"date":"2025-05-25T10:26:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T10:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/it-was-just-an-accident-by-irans-jafar-panahi-wins-cannes-top-prize\/"},"modified":"2025-05-25T10:26:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T10:26:05","slug":"it-was-just-an-accident-by-irans-jafar-panahi-wins-cannes-top-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/it-was-just-an-accident-by-irans-jafar-panahi-wins-cannes-top-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"'It Was Just An Accident' by Iran's Jafar Panahi wins Cannes' top prize"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Revenge thriller \u201cIt Was Just An Accident\u201d by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was barred from filmmaking for 15 years by the government in Tehran, won the Palme d\u2019Or top prize on Saturday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the award,\u00a0Panahi<\/a>\u00a0now has the rare honour of winning the top prize at all three major European film festivals, after nabbing Berlin\u2019s Golden Bear for \u201cTaxi<\/a>\u201d in 2015 and the Golden Lion at Venice for \u201cThe Circle\u201d in 2000.<\/p>\n

The 64-year-old director, who last attended the festival in person in 2003, addressed his prize to all Iranians, saying the most important thing was Iran and the country\u2019s freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoping that we will reach a day when no one will tell us what to wear or not wear, what to do or not do,\u201d he said, in an apparent reference to Iran\u2019s strict Islamic dress code for women.<\/p>\n

The death in 2022 of a\u00a0young Iranian Kurdish woman<\/a>\u00a0in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules sparked Iran\u2019s biggest domestic unrest since the 1979 revolution that brought its clerical rulers to power.<\/p>\n

Panahi, who has been imprisoned several times in Iran, plans to return to his country after the festival, he told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWin or not, I was going to go back either way. Don\u2019t be afraid of challenges,\u201d said the director who made films illegally during the 15-year ban that was recently lifted.<\/p>\n

Panahi added that he would never forget his first day at this year\u2019s festival, and getting to watch the film with an audience after all those years: \u201cEvery moment was thrilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt Was Just An Accident,\u201d which follows a garage owner who rashly kidnaps a one-legged man who looks like the one who tortured him in prison and then has to decide his fate, is only the second Iranian film to win, after\u00a0\u201cTaste of Cherry\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cArt mobilizes the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope and new life,\u201d said jury president\u00a0Juliette Binoche<\/a>\u00a0when announcing why they chose Panahi for the award.<\/p>\n

Twenty-two films<\/a>\u00a0in total were competing for the prize at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, with entries from well-known directors\u00a0Richard Linklater<\/a>,\u00a0Wes Anderson<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ari Aster<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WITHOUT A HITCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s closing ceremony, which officially ends the glamour-filled festival, went off without a hitch after the Cannes area was hit by a\u00a0power outage<\/a>\u00a0for several hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cSentimental Value<\/a>\u201d from acclaimed director Joachim Trier received the Grand Prix, the second-highest prize after the Palme d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n

The jury prize was split between the intergenerational family drama \u201cSound of Falling\u201d from German director Mascha Schilinski and \u201cSirat\u201d, about a father and son who head into the Moroccan desert, by French-Spanish director Oliver Laxe.<\/p>\n

Brazil\u2019s \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d was handed two awards, one for best actor for Wagner Moura, as well as best director for Kleber Mendonca Filho.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was having champagne,\u201d said Mendonca Filho after he ran up to the stage again to collect his own award after celebrating the win for Moura, who was not in attendance.<\/p>\n

Newcomer Nadia Melliti took home best actress for \u201cThe Little Sister\u201d, a queer coming-of-age story about the daughter of Algerian immigrants in Paris.<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s Dardenne brothers, who have the rare honour of already having won two Palme d\u2019Or prizes, took home the award for best screenplay for their film \u201cYoung Mothers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Outside the competition line-up, director Spike Lee brought \u201cHighest 2 Lowest<\/a>\u201d starring Denzel Washington to the festival, while\u00a0Tom Cruise<\/a>\u00a0was in town for what could be his final \u201cMission: Impossible \u2013 The Final Reckoning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington, who was only briefly at the festival, received a surprise\u00a0honorary Palme d\u2019Or<\/a>\u00a0on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Robert De Niro<\/a>\u00a0had received the same honour, which had been announced in advance, during the opening ceremony on May 13.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n