Just a few years after being imprisoned in Tehran and placed under a 20-year ban on travel and filmmaking, Panahi made a powerful return to Cannes. He received his award from the jury president, and an ardent admirer of his work, Juliette Binoche. The festival also offered a long-standing ovation to Panahi. “Art mobilises the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope, and new life,” said Juliette Binoche. The 64-year-old director, who hadn’t attended the festival in person since 2003, dedicated his award to all Iranians, emphasising that the most important thing is Iran and its freedom. He said, “Let us join forces. No one should tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, or what we should or shouldn’t do.”
Exploring the Plot
The film is inspired by Panahi’s own experiences in jail. It aims at Iran’s authoritarian regime. The tense thriller follows a former political prisoner who kidnaps a man he believes was his torturer, prompting a moral dilemma among fellow dissidents about whether to exact revenge or grant forgiveness. It’s a deeply human narrative that navigates the emotional complexities of survival, guilt, and resistance in a society where truth is often suppressed. With its restrained intensity and powerful performances, Panahi’s latest work stands as both a personal testimony and a political statement.
Triple Victory for Panahi
With his victory at Cannes, Jafar Panahi has achieved the rare feat of winning the top prize at all three major European film festivals. This follows his Golden Lion win at Venice for ‘The Circle’ (2000) and the Golden Bear at Berlin for ‘Taxi’ (2015). Panahi is only the fourth director, after Henri-Georges Clouzot, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Robert Altman, to secure this prestigious triple crown.
Blackout Didn’t Stop Cannes
The festival took a dramatic turn early Saturday when a regional power outage cut electricity to Cannes and much of the surrounding area. Believed to be the result of intentional sabotage to the electrical infrastructure, the blackout disrupted early morning screenings and forced the closure of hotels, shops, and cafes across the city. Despite this, the festival itself remained largely unaffected. The Palais, where the closing ceremony is held, switched to emergency power and continued as planned.
Top Honours and Awards
A total of twenty-two films competed for the top honor at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, with notable entries from celebrated directors such as Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson, and Ari Aster. The Grand Prix, the festival’s second-highest award after the Palme d’Or, went to ‘Sentimental Value’, directed by the acclaimed Joachim Trier. The Jury Prize was shared between two films: ‘Sound of Falling’, an intergenerational family drama by German filmmaker Mascha Schilinski, and ‘Sirat’, a story about a father and son journeying into the Moroccan desert, directed by French-Spanish filmmaker Oliver Laxe. Brazil’s ‘The Secret Agent’ earned two major honors—Best Actor for Wagner Moura and Best Director for Kleber Mendonça Filho. Nadia Melliti, a newcomer, won Best Actress for her role in ‘The Little Sister’, a queer coming-of-age tale. Belgian filmmakers, the Dardenne brothers, previously awarded the Palme d’Or twice, received the Best Screenplay award for their latest film, ‘Young Mothers’. Denzel Washington, who made only a brief visit to the festival, was honored with a surprise Palme d’Or on Monday night. Robert De Niro received the same honorary award, which had been announced ahead of time, during the opening ceremony on May 13.