Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday for his revenge thriller “It Was Just an Accident,″ handing the festival's top prize to a director who had been banned from leaving Iran for more than 15 years.
Cate Blanchett presented the award to Panahi, who three years ago was imprisoned in Iran before going on a hunger strike. For a decade and a half, he has made films clandestinely in his native country, including one film ("This Is Not a Film") made in his living room, and another ("Taxi") set in a car.
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The crowd rose in a thunderous standing ovation for the filmmaker, who immediately threw up his arms and leaned back in his seat in disbelief before applauding his collaborators and the audience around him. On stage, Panahi was cheered by Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche, who in 2010 at the festival held up Panahi's name to honor the director then under house arrest.
On stage, Panahi said what mattered most was the future of his country.
“Let us join forces,” Panahi said. “No one should tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, or what we should or shouldn't do.”
The win for “It Was Just an Accident” extend one of the most unprecedented streaks in movies: The indie distributor Neon has backed the last six Palme d'or winners. Neon, which acquired “It Was Just an Accident” for North American distribution after its premiere in Cannes, follows its Palmes for “Parasite,” “Titane,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Anora.”
All those films were Oscar contenders and two, “Parasite” and “Anora,” won best picture.
Last year, filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran to attend the premiere of his film in Cannes, and resettle in Germany. Panahi, though, has said life in exile isn't for him. He planned to fly home to Tehran on Sunday.
“It Was Just an Accident” was inspired by Panahi's experience in jail In it, a group of former prisoners encounter the man who terrorized them in jail, and weigh whether or not to kill him.
The Cannes closing ceremony followed a major power outage that struck southeastern France on Saturday in what police suspected was arson. Only a few hours before stars began streaming down the red carpet, power was restored in Cannes.
Other winners at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
The Grand Prix, or second prize, was awarded to Joachim Trier’s Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value,” his lauded follow-up to “The Worst Person in the World.”
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Brazilian political thriller “The Secret Agent" won two big awards: best director for Fihlo and best actor for Wagner Moura.
The jury prize was split between two films: Óliver Laxe’s desert road trip “Sirât " and Mascha Schilinski's German, generation-spanning drama “Sound of Falling.”
Best actress went to Nadia Melliti for “The Little Sister,” Hafsia Herzi's French coming-of-age drama.
The Belgian brothers Jean-Luc and Pierre Dardennes won best screenplay for their latest drama, “Young Mothers.” The Dardennes are two-time Palme d'Or winners.
Cannes' award for best first film went to Hasan Hadi, for “The President's Cake,” making it the first Iraqi film to win an award at the festival.
What else shaped Cannes this year
Saturday's ceremony brings to a close a 78th Cannes Film Festival where geopolitics cast a long shadow, both on screen and off. Shortly before the French Riviera extravaganza, which is also the world's largest movie market, U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of a 100% tariff on movies made overseas.
Most filmmakers responded with a shrug, calling the plan illogical. “Can you hold up the movie in customs? It doesn’t ship that way,” said Wes Anderson, who premiered his latest, “The Phoenician Scheme” at the festival.
That was one of the top American films in Cannes, along with Spike Lee's “Highest 2 Lowest,” the Christopher McQuarrie-Tom Cruise actioner “Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning” and Ari Aster's “Eddington.”
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Jake Coyle has covered the Cannes Film Festival since 2012. He’s seen approximately 40 films at this year’s festival and is reporting on what stands out.
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For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival