Overview

• It Was Just an Accident won the 72nd Sydney Film Festival’s $60,000 official competition prize in June after securing the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May.
• Jury president Justin Kurzel described the film as courageous and praised its deep soul and powerful sense of forgiveness at the closing-night gala.
• Panahi attended the award ceremony in person but missed earlier screenings due to travel bans and concerns for his family back in Iran.
• Made secretly to evade government censors, the thriller critiques repression and abusive power within Iran’s regime.
• The festival drew over 150,000 attendees this year and also honored Shalom Almond’s Songs Inside and Jordan Giusti’s Floodlands.