It Was Just An Accident

Despite a range of obstacles, from banning orders to imprisonment, Panahi – the subject of a comprehensive retrospective at SFF this year – remains unfailingly resolute in his determination to make films. “I’m a filmmaker. I can’t do anything else but make films,” he says. It Was Just an Accident begins with a family traveling on an isolated road, where an unfortunate bump in the road leads to their car being slightly damaged. At the repair shop in the middle of the night, a worker observes something that triggers a memory with immense repercussions.

With his new film, Panahi reimagines the Iranian road movie, taking the audience on a thrilling and devastating emotional rollercoaster involving a great ensemble cast. As Panahi says: “I don’t make political films, I make humanistic films.” Here he is at his most humanistic – presenting us with characters whose circumstances might well be very different from our own, but whose dilemmas, and choices between forgiveness and retribution, immerse us fully.

SFF Flexipass redemptions are unavailable for Back By Popular Demand sessions (June 17-20)