Jafar Panahi Wins Palme d’Or at Cannes with Defiant Revenge Thriller

In a deeply emotional and politically charged moment, Iranian filmmaker and dissident Jafar Panahi was awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for his searing revenge thriller It Was Just an Accident. Cate Blanchett presented the top prize to Panahi, whose presence at the festival was itself an act of defiance. Having endured imprisonment, a travel ban, and censorship in Iran, Panahi has for over a decade continued to make films clandestinely, often under the threat of punishment. His win was met with a thunderous standing ovation, as he stood stunned, arms raised in disbelief.

Panahi’s long journey to the Cannes stage is marked by resistance and resilience. Imprisoned in 2022 after attempting to inquire about fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, Panahi was released in 2023 after a hunger strike. He had been banned from traveling since 2009 for participating in protests, yet continued to make and smuggle out films shot without permits — including the acclaimed This Is Not a Film, recorded in his own living room, and Taxi, set entirely in a car. On stage, Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche, a longtime supporter, applauded him as Panahi called for unity and freedom: “No one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do or what we should not do.”

It Was Just an Accident, inspired by Panahi’s own experience in prison, follows a group of ex-prisoners who confront the man who once tortured them. The psychological tension, paired with the film’s political urgency, resonated strongly with the jury and audience alike. The film’s success also marked another major milestone for distributor Neon, whose run of Palme winners now extends to six in a row, including Parasite and Anatomy of a Fall. Panahi, unlike his friend Rasoulof who fled Iran for Germany, declared his intention to return to Tehran immediately after the festival.

The 2025 Cannes Film Festival featured a wide array of powerful entries. Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value won the Grand Prix, the festival’s second-highest honor. Trier, reunited with The Worst Person in the World star Renate Reinsve, praised the festival for celebrating thoughtful, empathetic storytelling in a media landscape flooded with noise. Meanwhile, Brazil’s The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonça Filho took home both Best Director and Best Actor (Wagner Moura), underlining the jury’s admiration for the film's potent political message.

Other major honors included Nadia Melliti winning Best Actress for her role in The Little Sister, while the Dardenne brothers earned Best Screenplay for Young Mothers, marking their ninth Cannes award. The Camera d’Or for best debut went to Hasan Hadi for The President’s Cake, a historic win for Iraqi cinema. Despite a day disrupted by a suspected arson-induced power outage, the closing ceremony sparkled with celebration and resolve. Actor John C. Reilly captured the spirit of the night, declaring that the festival’s films provided “all the needed electricity.”