Iranian director Jafar Panahi has claimed the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for his powerful revenge drama It Was Just an Accident, capping a politically charged celebration of global cinema.
In a dramatic and emotional close to the 78th Cannes Film Festival, Iranian director Jafar Panahi was awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or for his powerful revenge thriller It Was Just an Accident.
The moment was both triumphant and poignant, marking a major victory for a filmmaker who has long worked under extreme political pressure.
Panahi, who has been banned from leaving Iran for over 15 years, was presented the award by Cate Blanchett to a roaring standing ovation.
The filmmaker, visibly stunned, threw his arms up in disbelief before rising to applaud the crowd.
In a heartfelt speech, he championed freedom of expression, declaring: “No one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do or what we should not do. The cinema is a society".
Story of revenge
Panahi’s win marks a sixth consecutive Palme d’Or for the indie distributor Neon, continuing a remarkable streak that includes Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, and Anora.
With North American rights already secured, It Was Just an Accident seems poised to follow in the footsteps of its award-winning predecessors.
The film, inspired by Panahi’s own imprisonment, follows a group of ex-prisoners grappling with whether to take revenge on their former tormentor.
Panahi, jailed in 2022 after seeking information on fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, was freed in 2023 after a hunger strike.
Despite years of surveillance, censorship, and a travel ban, he continued to make films in secret, often smuggling them to festivals on USB drives.
Festival jury president Juliette Binoche, a long-time supporter of Panahi, praised the film's spirit of “resistance and survival.” She added, “Art will always win. What is human will always win”.
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'Contemplation and empathy'
The Grand Prix – Cannes' second-highest honour – went to Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, a moving Norwegian family drama that reunites the director with actress Renate Reinsve.
Trier used the moment to reflect on the power of cinema in a world oversaturated with images, praising Cannes for honouring films that invite contemplation and empathy.
Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho scooped up Best Director for his political thriller The Secret Agent, while Wagner Moura won Best Actor for the same film.
Juror Jeremy Strong noted simply, “That was our wish”.
The wins follow Brazil's recent Oscar success with I'm Still Here, adding to a celebratory year for the country's cinema.
Cannes power outage won’t dim the glamour of film festival finale
Cannes accolades
The Jury Prize was shared by Óliver Laxe’s Sirât and Mascha Schilinski's German generational drama Sound of Falling.
Nadia Melliti took home Best Actress for her role in The Little Sister, and Cannes regulars Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne added yet another accolade – Best Screenplay for Young Mothers.
Iraq also celebrated an historic first, with Hasan Hadi’s The President’s Cake winning the Camera d’Or.
Despite a day rocked by a major power outage – suspected to be arson –Cannes carried on.
As actor John C. Reilly put it, “The films gave us all the electricity we needed".
