Jafar Panahi's prison sentence confirmed by Iranian court
Following a retrial for a verdict that had been reached while the prominent Iranian director was abroad, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran has upheld a
Following a retrial for a verdict that had been reached while the prominent Iranian director was abroad, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran has upheld a one-year jail sentence. A Tehran Revolutionary Court has fully upheld an in-absentia verdict against prominent Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, which sentences him to one year in prison on the charge of engaging in propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as a two-year travel ban. Panahi is also prohibited from joining political and social groups and associations, Panahi's lawyer Mostafa Nili told Iranian media outlet Emtedad on Sunday. The grounds cited for the verdict include making an "underground and problematic film against the establishment," supporting political prisoners and backing popular protests against the government, including the "Woman, Life, Freedom" demonstrations. The initial court ruling against Panahi had been issued while he was abroad, promoting his film "A Simple Accident" and being honored with prizes at the Gotham Awards in New York. After it won the 2025 Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, "A Simple Accident" went on to be selected to represent France at the Academy Awards. After attending the Oscars, Panahi returned to Iran on March 30, despite the in-absentia prison sentence. Not the first conviction for Jafar Panahi For decades, the director has experienced censorship and imprisonment in his home country of Iran, even though he never set out to be a political filmmaker. "In my definition, a political filmmaker defends an ideology where the good follow it and the bad oppose it," the Iranian director told DW during the Cannes festival 2025.
"In my films, even those who behave badly are shaped by the system, not personal choice." But for more than a decade, Panahi, has had little choice. Following his support for the opposition Green Movement protests, the director of "The White Balloon" and "The Circle" was handed a 20-year ban on filmmaking and international travel in 2010 by Iranian authorities. That didn't stop him. Over the years, he found new ways to shoot, edit and smuggle out his films — from turning his living room into a movie set ("This Is Not a Film," 2011) to using a car as a mobile studio (in "Taxi," which won the Golden Bear at the 2015 Berlinale). He was arrested in July 2022 and detained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. After almost seven months and a hunger strike, he was released in February 2023. In a stunning legal victory, Iran's Supreme Court overturned his original 2010 sentence. Panahi was legally free, but artistically still bound by a system he refuses to submit to. Many of Panahi's works have been film clandestinely, including 'It Was Just an Accident' Image: MK2 Films "To make a film in the official way in Iran, you have to submit your script to the Islamic Guidance Ministry for approval," he told DW. "This is something I cannot do. I made another clandestine film. Again." That film, "It Was Just An Accident," may be Panahi's most direct confrontation yet with state violence and repression.
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