Ep. 355: Jafar Panahi on It Was Just an Accident

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This year during the New York Film Festival, I was extremely fortunate to speak with Jafar Panahi, director of It Was Just an Accident. The story concerns a prison survivor who runs into the man he believes to be his former tormenter, leading him to take action and reconnect with others. Panahi’s outstanding film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, after years of government bans of one kind or another on his filmmaking and freedoms. Through a translator I spoke with Panahi about It Was Just an Accident and especially the enduring philosophical issues raised by its characters living under a repressive regime.

It Was Just an Accident opens in theaters on October 15.

My thanks to the translator for making the conversation possible. (Please note that because of recording circumstances, the audio of my questions is only in English.)

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Photo by Steve Snodgrass