It Was Just an Accident

Working in a garage at night, a mechanic hears a sound that triggers a trauma buried within him in Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or-winning film.

While driving on a dark road, a family becomes involved in a car accident. It is just a minor accident, but the car has some damage, and the family is forced to visit a repair shop still open in the middle of the night.

While they wait, the mechanic hears a sound. It is a sound that triggers an unspoken trauma within him and sends him down a dark, unpredictable path where he quickly reaches a point of no return.

Curator’s Note
Following his arrest in 2022, Jafar Panahi spent seven months in prison, during which time he listened to the shared stories of other inmates. These stories became the inspiration for It Was Just an Accident.

Many consider this film as the beginning of a new stage in Panahi’s career, in part because it heralds broader freedoms for the director. For the first time since a failed 2010 request, he has been allowed to leave Iran, marking this moment with a visit to Cannes to present his film. However, it is important to note that Panahi is still not free to make films in Iran; his ban remains in place.