Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi dedicates Gotham Awards wins to filmmakers "deprived of the right to see and be seen"

New York [US], December 2 (ANI): Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi dedicated his Gotham Awards wins to independent filmmakers "deprived of the right to see and be seen," the same day he was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and a two-year travel ban, according to Deadline.
Panahi, whose Cannes Palme d'Or-winning drama 'It Was Just An Accident' received three Gotham Award nominations, won best director, best original screenplay and best international film at the New York City ceremony.
The film is also France's entry for the 2026 Oscar race and was released theatrically in the U.S. by Neon in October. Panahi is currently on a city tour across Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and New York to present the film. Neon is producing a short documenting his travels for release in early 2026.
Panahi's lawyer, Mustafa Nili, announced on X that the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court had also barred the director from membership in political and social groups due to "propaganda activities against the system," according to Deadline.
Without directly mentioning his sentence, Panahi paid tribute to "all the filmmakers who keep the camera rolling in silence, without support, and at times, by risking everything they have, only with their faith in truth and humanity." He added, "I hope that this dedication would be considered a small tribute to all filmmakers who have been deprived of the right to see and to be seen but continue to create and to exist," according to Deadline.
Panahi had two stints in prison and was banned from practising his craft for 20 years, forcing him to shoot his films in secret, including this last one. Appearing with Martin Scorsese at the New York Film Festival this fall, where It Was Just An Accident screened, he lamented all the great directors who had to flee the country, according to Deadline.
"It was really difficult to bear. ... All the backbones of Iranian filmmaking are out. I really miss all those films that they could have made in Iran and they never did," he said. "I don't have the courage and I don't have the ability to leave Iran and stay out of Iran. I have stayed there, and I'm going to work there."
In It Was Just an Accident, an unassuming mechanic named Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) has a chance encounter with Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi), a man he strongly suspects is a sadistic prison guard. Panicked, with the seed of a doubt, he gathers several former prisoners, all abused by the same man, to try to confirm his identity. As the diverse and bickering group drive around Tehran with their captive, they must confront how far to take matters into their own hands with their presumed tormentor, according to Deadline. (ANI)