Enduring censorship and still finding the drive to make films is the distinction that places Jafar Panahi among the greats of modern cinema. For years, his career has unfolded under bans, surveillance, and imprisonment, yet his artistic resolve has never weakened. Soon after his release from prison back in 2023, he returned behind the camera to make It Was Just an Accident, a film that stands as both a personal reckoning and a quiet act of defiance.

That film has now carried Panahi far beyond Iran, placing him in the United States at a moment when global attention has once again turned toward his life as much as his work.

In a recent Zoom conversation with Variety, Panahi spoke with characteristic understatement about his current travels and the awards season attention surrounding his work. 

“We arrived in L.A. from Palm Springs last night, and before that we were in New York,” he said. “Of course, because we are in L.A., we will be going. I guess I have to go to the Golden Globes.” 

He is currently in the US to promote It Was Just an Accident, which won the Palme d’Or and is representing France in the Oscars’ international feature race. The contrast is stark: a film freely crossing borders while its creator has spent much of his career forbidden to leave home. Every appearance, every interview, becomes a reminder of that imbalance.  

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While Panahi crosses borders with his film, the ground beneath his homeland continues to shift, pulling his thoughts, and ultimately his resolve, back toward Iran.

“I have to go back to Iran,” Panahi has stated plainly to Variety, reiterating a resolve he has expressed consistently over the years. That commitment comes despite renewed pressure from the Islamic Republic of Iran. In December 2025, while Panahi was in Cannes with It Was Just an Accident, he was sentenced in absentia to a one-year prison term and a two-year travel ban, accused of propaganda activities linked to his politically charged work.

Even so, he remains unwavering. “These developments make absolutely no difference in my decision,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what will happen to me as a result of this film: I have to go back to Iran.”

His insistence on returning is rooted not only in defiance, but in belonging.

“I am the kind of person who needs to be in his country. I need to breathe there and work there,” Panahi explained, adding that even the prospect of serving his sentence would not alter his choice.

Jafar Panahi’s cinema has always been inseparable from his conscience. As It Was Just an Accident continues its global journey, his determination to return home stands as powerfully as any scene he has ever filmed.

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Will you revisit his work, from This Is Not a Film to It Was Just an Accident, and consider what it means to create when freedom itself is on trial. Share your thoughts.