Jafar Panahi to Again Face Trial in Iran on “Propaganda” Charges

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Oscar-nominated Iranian director Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident) is set to again face trial in Iran on charges of “propaganda against the regime.”

Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran has ordered a retrial in his case, after he was sentenced in absentia, to one year in prison and a two-year ban from filmmaking. Panahi at the time was outside the country, promoting It Was Just An Accident, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar in the best international feature category, representing France.

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After the Oscar ceremony, Panahi returned to Iran, as he had always said he would, entering the country on March 30. He crossed the border in the midst of the ongoing war between the U.S. and Israel and the Iranian regime.

Panahi has been summoned for a court hearing in Iran on May 20 as part of the retrial.

Panahi spent 86 days in Iran’s notorious Evin prison in 2022 and 2023 on charges of anti-government activity dating back to 2010. He was released following a hunger strike and a successful appeal that got the original charges thrown out.

In prison, Panahi met activist and political prisoner Mehdi Mahmoudian and the two collaborated on the screenplay for It Was Just An Accident. The thriller follows a former political prisoner who kidnaps a man he believes to be his torturer and then debates with other dissidents whether to kill or forgive him.

Mahmoudian was re-arrested earlier this year and held for 17 days on accusations of “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” He was picked up after writing an opinion piece condemning the government’s violent crackdown on protesters. The Iranian government carried out a widespread massacres of civilians, killing tens of thousands.

Iranian film journalist Mansour Jahani first reported on Panahi’s retrial.

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