Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director behind double Oscar nominee "It Was Just an Accident," will walk the glittering red carpet at the Oscars next month, surrounded by cameras, fanfare and celebrity.
But once the gilded glow of Hollywood's award circuit fades, Panahi will travel back to his home country of Iran, where a prison sentence awaits him for engaging in "propaganda activities" against the Iranian regime.
Panahi was sentenced, in absentia, to prison late last year for the charge of Propaganda Against the Regime, a penalty which includes one year in prison and a two-year ban on travel, filmmaking and interviews. This marks his third sentence for similar charges against the Iranian regime. His lawyer has appealed.
"After all this struggle, after all my civic and civil struggle, after refusing to submit to censorship, after standing up against the prohibition of making films and so on and so forth, not going back would mean accepting censorship, accepting for them to define where I make films, where I don't make films," Panahi said in an interview with ABC News, explaining his decision to return to Iran to face his penalty.
"My family is there, my mother, my siblings, my colleagues, my fellow Iranian citizens, my entire life, everyone I love, is there," Panahi said. "Half of my existence is in Iran right now."
He continued, "So if I'm not there, I'm not a whole, an entire human being for myself."
His movie, "It Was Just an Accident," is nominated for best international feature film and best original screen play at the Academy Awards. The film is a gripping drama that follows a man named Vahid who abducts another man whom he believes to be his former prison torturer. Vahid spends much of the duration of the film working with a group of former prisoners to confirm the identity of who he believes is his torturer.
"It Was Just an Accident" saw global critical success and recognition including the 2025 Palme d'Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
The film, which was shot covertly in Iran, is steeped in a language of resistance against the notoriously repressive Iranian regime.
Panahi's success comes simultaneously at a deeply painful time for Iran. Thousands of people were killed as protests swept across the nation early this year, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based group. Estimates of the total death toll vary widely.
The U.S. government has increased the military presence in the Middle East in recent weeks as President Donald Trump has said publicly he is weighing options for possible strikes against Iran.
"Well, we haven't made a final decision," Trump said on Friday. "They cannot have nuclear weapons, and we're not thrilled with the way they're negotiating. So, we'll see how it all works."
Panahi discussed the importance of speaking out against the protest crackdowns, saying, "As human beings in whichever corner of the world we are, if we do not stand up and express ourselves on this matter, do we not think that one day the same catastrophe might befall us?"
He continued, "Because if we don't express our reaction now, it means that we accept violence."
Panahi said demonstrations held both in Europe and the U.S. supporting the Iranian protests prove "that all Iranians share one desire, one request, and this is the same request that people have inside Iran, and this request is the fact that the regime has no longer any legitimacy, and the people no longer want it. And I hope that the people of Iran will achieve their request and their desire as soon as possible."
This theme of resistance is not unique among Panahi's films.
"Taxi," released in 2015, sees Panahi as a taxi driver engaging in conversations with characters playing everyday Iranians, peeling back their thoughts on law, crime and life. "Offsides," released in 2006, depicts Iranian women dressing as men in order to watch soccer games before facing punishment for the offense.
"When I started making my own films, I really tried my utmost best to make films that I believed in," Panahi said. "You call it resistance. And to qualify this, maybe what I can say is that I was never ready to let anyone else decide for me how to make films and what I should include, what I should not include in my films."
He added, "So this resistance took place by itself. It wasn't something I chose consciously."
Panahi recalled being cast in a film that was searching for "a plump little boy" many years ago. He said he was fascinated by the director and the experience sparked an interest in moviemaking.
Panahi is not the only creator behind "It Was Just an Accident" to be impacted by Iran's crackdown on creative expression. In February, Panahi shared on Instagram that his co-writer, Mehdi Mahmoudian, whom he met in prison, had been arrested in Iran, and is out on bail.
Mahmoudian had signed a statement with 17 other artists and activists supporting the Iranian protests and condemning the actions of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Local media report two other signatories were also arrested.
The director said he hopes Iranians at home and abroad will one day be able to return to their homeland.
"My wish for Iran is for all of its nationals to be able to go back, and also for people from all over the world, from every country in the world, to come and go from Iran," he said.
