Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi received a hero’s welcome from supporters on his return to Tehran early Monday, following his Palme d’Or triumph at the Cannes Film Festival for his latest work, ‘It Was Just an Accident’.
After years of being banned from leaving Iran, creating films clandestinely, and serving prison terms, Panahi was able to attend the French festival in person for the first time in many years. His presence and subsequent victory were widely seen as a powerful statement in support of artistic freedom.
Footage shared on social media by the legal monitor group Dadban captured Panahi’s arrival at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, where he was met by cheering supporters. As he descended from passport control into the arrivals area, chants of “Woman. Life. Freedom!” the rallying cry of Iran’s 2022–2023 protest movement echoed through the terminal.
Outside the airport, a small crowd of admirers greeted him with applause, embraces, and flowers. Filmmaker Mehdi Naderi, who shared a video of the moment on Instagram, described Panahi’s return as “fresh blood in the veins of Iranian independent cinema”.
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Panahi’s award marks the first time since Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry in 1997 that an Iranian film has won the Palme d’Or. Despite the significance of the achievement, Iranian state media offered only minimal coverage. The victory has also provoked diplomatic tensions, following remarks by French Culture Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who described the award as “a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime’s oppression”. Tehran responded by summoning France’s chargé d’affaires over what it called “insulting” comments.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei downplayed the political implications, stating, “We believe artistic events should not be exploited for political purposes.”
Panahi’s winning film carries strong political overtones, depicting five Iranians confronting a man they allege was their prison torturer, a storyline drawn from the director’s own experiences with imprisonment.
In his acceptance speech, Panahi issued a heartfelt plea: “Let us set aside all problems and differences. What matters most now is our country, and the freedom of our country.”
