Overview

• Jafar Panahi attended the Cannes Film Festival in person for the first time in 15 years, marking a significant moment in his career and resistance against Iranian censorship.
• His new thriller, 'Un simple accident,' is competing for the Palme d'Or, reflecting on justice and vengeance in the face of authoritarian repression.
• Panahi has continued to create films clandestinely despite a 2010 conviction that banned him from filmmaking and international travel.
• Russian film critic Anton Dolin wrote a banned book in homage to Panahi, highlighting parallels between cultural repression in Iran and Russia.
• Panahi's minimalist and inventive filmmaking techniques serve as acts of defiance, maintaining artistic depth under oppressive conditions.