Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has earned two Golden Globe nominations this year for It Was Just an Accident, a film that depicts five Iranians confronting a man they believe tortured them in jail.
The recognition comes at a complicated time for the director. This month, Iran sentenced Panahi, 65, to a year in prison and imposed a two-year travel ban, accusing him of spreading propaganda against the state, his lawyer Mostafa Nili said.
The ruling was issued in his absence as Panahi was in New York receiving three Gotham Awards for the film, which also won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May.
Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Majid Panahi and Hadis Pakbaten star in It Was Just An Accident. Photo: Les Films Pelleas
It Was Just an Accident was filmed in secret in Iran after the director spent seven months in prison. His sentence that ended in 2023 after a hunger strike. Panahi has not yet commented on his latest jail sentence and there was no indication of whether he planned to return to Iran.
He is among the most celebrated Iranian filmmakers and has continued making movies despite being jailed repeatedly, barred from travelling and placed under house arrest.
Panahi won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for The Circle and received the Golden Bear in Berlin for Taxi Tehran in 2015. He was awarded the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes in 2018 for Three Faces.
His Palme d'Or success for It Was Just an Accident made him one of the few filmmakers to have won the top prizes at Venice, Berlin and Cannes.
Full list of Golden Globes 2025 nominees
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Frankenstein
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Blue Moon
Bugonia
Marty Supreme
No Other Choice
Nouvelle Vague
One Battle After An
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