Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has returned to Tehran cheered by supporters after scooping the Cannes Palme d’Or for his latest film, It Was Just an Accident.

Panahi arrived at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Monday morning greeted by applause, as he hugged friends and fans who presented him with flowers when the revered auteur descended the escalator from passport control, as seen on social media posts.

“I am not an art expert, but we believe that artistic events and art in general should not be exploited to pursue political objectives,” said Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.

Panahi was able to travel to Cannes to promote his surreptitiously shot film after being incarcerated twice for “propaganda against the state” and banned from making films, or speaking to the press, and leaving Iran for more than 14 years.

“It Was Just an Accident” is a revenge take of a group of former political prisoners who kidnap a man whom they believe to be their former interrogator and torturer.  But was it really him? And, if yes, what should be the “right” form and extent of his punishment.

Panahi: Winner of Top Trio Festivals

The film, which the director said was inspired by his experiences in an Iranian prison, has now given Panahi the rare distinction of having won the top prize at all three major European film festivals: Berlin’s Golden Bear for Taxi in 2015, and the Golden Lion at Venice for The Circle in 2000.

Panahi, who is 64, was not able to attend those festivals due to his ban, which was finally lifted in April 2023.

So far, Iranian media have largely ignored Jafar Panahi’s momentous Cannes Palme d’Or victory.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA trumpeted Panahi’s award with a picture of him and the headline “The world’s largest film festival made history for Iranian cinema.”

However, news that Panahi earned the prestigious Palme d’Or did not appear on the websites of the nation’s top English-language news outlets, Tehran Times and Iran Daily on Sunday.