Jafar Panahi, famous for being an ‘anti-regime director’ who stands up to the Iranian government, won the Palme d ‘Or, the highest honor at the Cannes Film Festival, the world’s most prestigious international film festival.

At the closing and awards ceremony of the 78th Cannes International Film Festival held at the Grand Théâtre Lumière in Cannes, France on the 25th(Korean time), director Jafar Panahi’s 11th feature film, ‘It Was Just an Accident’, was announced as the winner of the Palme d ‘Or.

Director Panahi won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for “The Circle” and the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015 for “Taxi.” With this win, he becomes the fifth director to sweep the top prizes at the world’s top three film festivals, following Henri-Georges Clouzot(France), Michelangelo Antonioni(Italy), Robert Altman(USA), and Jean-Luc Godard(France).

Regarding director Panahi’s Palme d ‘Or win, foreign media outlets shared the common opinion that “it is a reflection of Cannes’ recent tendency to invite and highly evaluate films with social and political messages.”

Director Panahi is a creator who has been arrested by the Iranian government several times for anti-government protests and anti-regime propaganda.In 2010, he was even banned from making films and leaving the country for 20 years, but he has continued to make films in secret and make his voice heard.

In particular, this film was produced by the director who was re-imprisoned in 2022 and released the following year in February 2023.It depicts what happens when a man who was previously imprisoned as a political prisoner drags the police officer who harassed him in prison and goes out to find other victims like him.

In an interview with AFP after receiving the award, director Panahi said, “This award is not for me, but for all Iranian filmmakers who cannot work right now.I hope that all Iranian creators can work freely.”

Meanwhile, in the competition section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the Grand Prix of the Jury went to Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value.” The Jury Prize was shared between Olivier Raci’s French-Spanish co-production “Sirat” and German director Martha Silinski’s “The Sound of Falling.” Brazilian film “The Secret Agent” director Kleber Mendoza Filho and lead actor Wagner Moura won the Best Director and Best Actor awards, respectively, while 23-year-old French actress Nadia Meliti won the Best Actress award for her debut film “The Little Sister.”



Reporter Seungmi smlee@donga.com

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