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Iranwire – Iranian director Jafar Panahi was unable to attend the New York Film Festival premiere of his film “It Was Just an Accident” after his visa could not be processed in time, festival organizers said.
The October 2 screening proceeded without Panahi, and a scheduled October 3 conversation between the director and Martin Scorsese was canceled.
A government shutdown that began on Sept. 30, after Congress failed to reach a funding deal, prevented the visa from being processed, according to the festival.
It Was Just an Accident follows a mechanic who believes he has encountered the intelligence officer who tortured him.
The film is Panahi’s first since his imprisonment for several months in 2023 for criticizing the Iranian government.
Panahi was banned from making films for 14 years and shot the production in secret.
The film won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and has been submitted as France’s entry for the Academy Awards.
French producers attended the premiere. NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim paid tribute to Panahi in a speech before the screening.
“He’s the person we need in this moment,” Lim said.
