"During his imprisonment in 2010,he said he told one of his interrogators, "I make films about whatever I see in my environment. That's what I get inspired by. "The interrogator said, "But you cannot make a film of anything you see." Panahi said, "Yes, I can, and I should. It's not in my control. Topics just come into my work, and it has nothing to do with me. Look, right now you're interrogating me. This will eventually show up in one of my films.""
"Figuring he had received enough punishment, Iran did lift the travel and filmmaking ban in 2023. But Panahi still had to apply to the Ministry of Guidance for approval to make his films. He tried to get approval for a war film, he said, needing machinery and a train, but gave up and returned to making his films clandestinely. (He may make the war film outside the country.)"
"Sure enough, in his new film "It Was Just An Accident," which was filmed in secret in Iran and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes at this year, Panahi tells the story of a man who brings his broken-down car at night to a garage. From another room, the mechanic hears him dragging his leg and knows deep in his bones that this is the man who tortured him in prison. But he never saw his face. Is this really him?"
Jafar Panahi has faced imprisonment, blindfolding, interrogation, house arrest, and a 20-year filmmaking ban. During 2010 interrogation he insisted his films reflect what he sees and predicted interrogations would appear in his work. Iran lifted travel and filmmaking bans in 2023 but required Ministry of Guidance approval for projects; Panahi abandoned a proposed war film requiring heavy equipment and returned to making films clandestinely, possibly planning to shoot larger projects abroad. Panahi filmed It Was Just An Accident in secret in Iran; the film won the Palme d'Or and follows former prisoners who suspect a garage customer of being their torturer and embark on a darkly comic quest to confirm his identity.
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