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.
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.
