Cannes Winner Jafar Panahi Sentenced in Iran to a Year in Prison in Absentia, Lawyer Says

Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been sentenced in absentia in Iran to one year in prison, according to his lawyer via the AFP news agency.

Panahi’s lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said the sentence includes a two-year travel ban and prohibition of Panahi from membership of any political or social groups. He added that they would file an appeal.

The charges against the filmmaker were that he had engaged in “propaganda activities” against the state, but Nili did not elaborate.

Related Stories

CBS Sets Midseason 2026 Premiere Dates for 'Survivor 50,' 'CIA,' Taylor Sheridan's 'Y: Marshals' and More

'Y: Marshals' Trailer: Kayce Dutton Rides Again in First Look at 'Yellowstone' Spinoff

Variety has learned Panahi, who has been in the U.S. promoting his Cannes-winning film “It Was Just an Accident,” is expected to be at the Gotham Awards in New York City tonight. The director is nominated for best director and best original screenplay, and his film is nominated for best international feature. He is due to attend the Marrakech Film Festival on Thursday, where the film screens, and will take part in an onstage discussion. Panahi is currently a resident of France.

“It Was Just an Accident” was selected by France as its submission for the Academy Awards in the international feature film category, and is expected to make the shortlist. In the film, five former inmates contemplate whether to exact revenge on a man they believe to be their former jailer.

The director has had frequent run-ins with the Iranian authorities.

In 2010, he was barred from making films and from leaving Iran after supporting anti-government protests and making films critical of the country.

He was later convicted of “propaganda against the system,” and sentenced to six years in jail but served only two months before being released on bail.

Despite the ban on filmmaking, he shot the documentary “This Is Not a Film,” which was released in 2011, and “Taxi,” in which Panahi acted as a taxi driver, came out in 2015.

In 2022, he was arrested in connection with protests by a group of filmmakers but was released about seven months later.