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Key Points
Oscar-bound filmmaker Jafar Panahi has reportedly been sentenced to prison by Iranian officials.
The It Was Just an Accident director is widely expected to score major Oscar nominations.
The 2026 Academy Awards take place in March.
The director of a filmwidely predicted to score multiple nominationsat the2026 Oscarshas reportedly been sentenced to one year in prison, per theHuman Rights Activists News Agency.
In a brief news post Monday, the HRANA reported that 65-year-old Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who recently won the prestigiousCannesPalme d'Or prize forhis new dramaIt Was Just an Accident,has additionally been sentenced to a travel ban and other restrictions amid alleged propaganda against the nation.
"Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court has, in absentia, sentenced Mr. Panahi to one year in prison, two years of a travel ban, and a ban on membership in political and social groups, on the charge of propaganda against the regime," said Mostafa Nili, Panahi's defense attorney, in a statement reported by the organization.
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Nili added, "We will take the necessary steps to appeal this ruling within the legal deadline."
Entertainment Weeklyhas reached out to representatives for Panahi's filmIt Was Just an Accidentand to the Iranian government for comment.
It Was Just an Accidentis among the strongest likely contenders for 2026 Oscar nominations, with EW predicting the film in several categories, including Best Picture and Best Director for Panahi.
The film is also expected to score a nomination for Best International Feature, but not on behalf of Iran, which did not submit the project for Oscars consideration — instead, France, which co-financed the film, submitted the project as its category contender.
Nominations are set for Jan. 22, while the Academy Awards will be handed out on March 15.
Amid worldwide acclaim for filmsThe White Balloon,The Circle,Taxi, and more, Panahi first served jail time in 2009, with several of his projects being banned in Iran.
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He has, in the past, resorted to making films via remote video sessions, withIt Was Just an Accidenteven being made partially in secret in Iran after he was released from another prison stint in 2023 that ended with a hunger strike, per theAssociated Press.
Drawing glowing critical reviews following its Cannes debut in May,It Was Just an Accidentwas made with inspiration from stories told by Panahi's fellow prisoners, and follows an ex-prisoner who kidnaps a man he suspects was his interrogator in jail, though he's unsure of the person's exact identity because he was blindfolded while in prison.
"At the end of the day, I was a special person there," Panahi told the AP of his stint in Evin Prison. "There were people there who would go on hunger strikes for 20 or 30 days and no one would hear about it. If I didn't eat for two days, the entire world would find out."
It Was Just an Accidentwas first released in the United States on Oct. 15, and is now playing in a limited number of theaters.
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