Silenced, imprisoned, yet never stilled—Jafar Panahi returned to Cannes in 2025 after 22 years, winning the Palme d'Or for It Was Just an Accident, a taut, 24-hour thriller born from his time behind bars. Once banned from filmmaking and travel, Panahi’s camera never stopped—his living room became a film set, his taxi a mobile studio. Even under censorship, he shaped the Iranian New Wave with quiet defiance.
From The White Balloon to The Circle and Taxi, his stories unveiled the invisible chains of Iranian life. His latest win summoned praise from the world and reprimand from Tehran. Yet his lens endures—unyielding, rooted in the soil of Iran, whispering its struggle, daring to dream. At Cannes, Panahi dedicated his award to the silenced voices of Iran’s filmmakers. A filmmaker once caged, now celebrated—Panahi’s story is not just of resistance, but of cinema’s unrelenting power to witness and to speak.
Script: Apeksha Priyadarshini
Producer: Divya
Editor: Madiha Shakeel
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