In a last-minute surprise to many, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident took the Palme d’Or at Cannes, however, for Jury President Juliette Binoche, it was a crucial decision to laud the feature: “The film springs from a feeling of resistance, survival, which is absolutely necessary today.”
“It’s very human and political at the same time, because he comes from a complicated country,” said the Oscar winner, “When we watched the film, it stood out.”
Panahi previously was in Competition in 2018 with 3 Faces, won the Camera d’Or for his first film The White Balloon in 1995 and won a Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard for Crimson Gold in 2003. The filmmaker had two unjustified stints in prison in Iran; Panahi getting released in 2023.
Given what the director has gone through, “It was exciting to celebrate (him),” said Binoche.
Panahi’s latest follows a group of working class folk who were wrongfully accused. They seek revenge against the guard who tortured and berated them.
Art will always win. What is human will always win,” exclaimed The Unbearable Lightness of Being actress.
“As actors, directors, and people who work in art, we can speak out in public on important issues and transform the world.”
She added, “We are in a world ruled by revenge, violence and this film for someone who has had this experience of violence in his life, the fact that one can talk about this change within the film, this change which is not revenge, the idea is you can listen and not necessarily want to kill someone or rough them up. The film holds out huge hope and we were fortunate to have this movie in competition. So, we can talk about these matters. You have to have a paradigm shift of looking at things. We’re in the mud of violence, in the sludge of what is human…”
Essentially if we don’t change our ways of treating each other for the better, “we’re not real human beings” said Binoche.
When the jury members were asked by press conference moderator Didier Allouch what they loved about congregating and deliberating over the last 11 days, Oscar nominee Strong quipped, “it’s like conclave with champagne”.
Strong did take a serious tone when explaining why the jury decided to bestow the Palme d’Or to It Was Just An Accident and the Jury Prize to Sentimental Value.
“I think it’s important for us, we wanted to recognize films that were transcendent as intrinsically as they were pieces of work.”
Strong continued, “Juliette spoke about bringing softness in the world, De Niro talked about Fascists should fear art. I feel that these choices reflect those principles. Ibsen talked about the poem within a poem, that when you grasp that, you’ll understand my song. I feel these films have the poems and the poems that enable us to grab something infallible.”
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