After taking first place at Cannes Film Festival, an Iranian director has been hailed at home.
Two days after his Palace d’Or triumph for vengeance thriller It Was Just Accident, Jafar Panahi landed down in Tehran’s international airport on Monday.
Panahi has spent several times behind bars in Iran, most recently for voicing disapproval of the incarceration of filmmakers challenging the government. This was his first trip to Cannes in 15 years; a travel prohibition has kept his films off display.
His winning movie showed abuse in Iranian prisons and started a back-and-forth between French and Iranian authorities.
Seen smiling and clutching a bouquet of flowers as he embraced his friends, the revered director—who now owns awards from Europe’s three main film festivals—was seen.
Among the throng was fellow Iranian filmmaker Medhi Nadari, who posted images of the occasion on Instagram labeling Panahi’s return as “history-making.”
Agence France-Presse news agency reports that one person heard yelling “woman, life, freedom” as Panahi proceeded through the airport. Following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police detention in 2022, the term became the catchphrase for demonstrations erupting all around Iran.
Declaring in his acceptance speech at Cannes, “What’s most important now is our country and the freedom of our country,” Panahi urged Iranians to “join forces”.
“No-one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do, or what we should not do,” he declared.
