France has selected Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident, winner of this year’s Cannes Palme d’Or, as its submission for the Academy Awards in the international feature category, giving the exiled filmmaker a path to Hollywood that Tehran was unlikely to offer.
The revenge drama, produced largely in France and shot in Iran without government approval, follows a group of former political prisoners confronting a man they believe tortured them decades earlier.
The decision, announced on Wednesday, was made by an 11-member committee convened by France’s culture ministry after reviewing five finalists, including Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague and Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life.
Panahi, long banned from working or traveling in Iran, has spent much of the past 15 years under house arrest or in prison. He was released from jail in 2023 after a hunger strike, and edited the new film in France.
US distributor Neon has acquired the film and is planning an awards campaign, while Mubi has taken international rights.
“This Iranian drama, directed by the great Jafar Panahi and produced with the decisive support of France … is proof that our country, 130 years after inventing cinema, remains the beating heart of international co-productions,” Gaëtan Bruel, head of the CNC film body, said in a statement.
The move also highlights stark contrasts with Iran’s own Oscar choice. A day earlier, Tehran selected Ali Zarnegar’s Cause of Death: Unknown, a moral drama that won praise abroad but was pulled from Iran’s state-run Fajr Festival in 2022. Independent filmmakers in Iran continue to face censorship, surveillance and travel bans.
The 98th Academy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026.
