It Was Just an Accident

Jafar Panahi

2025, Iran-France–Luxembourg

Film description

We are in present-day Iran. It is night, and a family with a young child is heading home along a poorly lit road when a minor accident suddenly occurs. They seek help at a nearby auto repair shop. The event sets off a chain reaction when a former employee of the workshop, a man previously imprisoned for political reasons, believes he recognizes his brutal interrogator in the unfortunate driver. The man reaches out to his former fellow prisoners to gain confirmation with their help. The members of this group, who have endured the horrors of prison, are confronted with important moral dilemmas: can vigilantism provide a sense of closure in an oppressive and unjust system?

Featured festivals and awards

Cannes Film Festival 2025 - Palme d’Or

About the director

Jafar Panahi is regarded as one of the leading voices of contemporary Iranian cinema. From his earliest works addressing social issues to his later, more daring explorations of taboo subjects in Iran, his films serve as a creative meditation on both cinema and society, always marked by a deep sense of humanity. In 2010, an Iranian court sentenced him to six years in prison and imposed a 20-year ban on filmmaking, giving interviews to local and international media, and leaving the country. Despite these restrictions, Panahi continued to create: Three Faces became his fourth film made after his arrest, following This Is Not a Film, Closed Curtain, and Taxi. In 2025, he was awarded the Palme d’Or for his latest feature, It Was Just an Accident.

More notable works

The White Balloon (1995)
The Mirror (1997)
Taxi (2015)
No Bears (2022)

Credits

Director: Jafar Panahi
Cast: Vahid Mobasseri, Maryam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Paak Baten, Majid Panahi, Mohammad Ali Eliyas Mehr
Cinematography: Amin Jafari
Screenplay: Jafar Panahi
Producers: Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin
Editing: Amir Etminan
Music: Abdolreza Heydari
Distributor (Hungary): Cirko Film
Colour: colour
Running time: 103 mins

Reviews

Jafar Panahi

It Was Just an Accident

2025, Iran-France–Luxembourg

Filmleírás

We are in present-day Iran. It is night, and a family with a young child is heading home along a poorly lit road when a minor accident suddenly occurs. They seek help at a nearby auto repair shop. The event sets off a chain reaction when a former employee of the workshop, a man previously imprisoned for political reasons, believes he recognizes his brutal interrogator in the unfortunate driver. The man reaches out to his former fellow prisoners to gain confirmation with their help. The members of this group, who have endured the horrors of prison, are confronted with important moral dilemmas: can vigilantism provide a sense of closure in an oppressive and unjust system?

A rendezőről

Jafar Panahi is regarded as one of the leading voices of contemporary Iranian cinema. From his earliest works addressing social issues to his later, more daring explorations of taboo subjects in Iran, his films serve as a creative meditation on both cinema and society, always marked by a deep sense of humanity. In 2010, an Iranian court sentenced him to six years in prison and imposed a 20-year ban on filmmaking, giving interviews to local and international media, and leaving the country. Despite these restrictions, Panahi continued to create: Three Faces became his fourth film made after his arrest, following This Is Not a Film, Closed Curtain, and Taxi. In 2025, he was awarded the Palme d’Or for his latest feature, It Was Just an Accident.

Kiemelt Fesztiválok és Díjak

Cannes Film Festival 2025 - Palme d’Or

További Filmjei

The White Balloon (1995)
The Mirror (1997)
Taxi (2015)
No Bears (2022)

További Alkotók és Infók

Director: Jafar Panahi
Cast: Vahid Mobasseri, Maryam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Paak Baten, Majid Panahi, Mohammad Ali Eliyas Mehr
Cinematography: Amin Jafari
Screenplay: Jafar Panahi
Producers: Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin
Editing: Amir Etminan
Music: Abdolreza Heydari
Distributor (Hungary): Cirko Film
Colour: colour
Running time: 103 mins

Adatlapok