Iranian Director Jafarโ Panahi‘s Film May Compete for Oscars as French Entry
Jafar Panahi’s latest film, Aโค Simple Accident, an โIranian thriller, isโข poised to possibly represent France inโ the upcoming Academy Awards competition for Best โคInternational Feature Film. Thisโ unusualโฃ situation stems from the film’s unique production circumstances and a recentโ change inโ eligibility โคrules โคimplemented โขby theโ French National Center of Cinematography and the Moving Image โ(CNC).
The producer of A Simple Accident asserts the film underwent its entire โฃpost-production โprocess in France,โค drawing a parallel to mohammad Rasoulof’s Wild Fig Seeds, which represented Germany at theโ Oscars last year. This isn’t the first timeโ the CNC โhas selected a non-French โlanguage โfilm; in 2015, Mustang by Franco-Turkish director Denizโข Gamze Ergรผven was chosen to represent France.
Sinceโข 2022,โ the CNC hasโ utilized an application process for Oscar consideration. Films mustโค exceed 40 minutes in length, be producedโ outside โthe United States, demonstrate โฃprimarilyโข French โขcreative control, be filmed in a languageโ other than English, and have aโ theatrical release in France between october 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025. A Simple Accident โข technically doesn’t โคmeet the finalโค release date criterion, as it’s scheduledโฃ for release on October 1st, butโค a waiver was granted – as it wasโ for other pre-selected films including Arco by Ugo Welcome, the Last of Us by Hafsia herzi, New Wave by Richard Linklater,โค andโฃ Privacy by Rebecca Zlotowski.
According to producer Philippe Martin, A Simple Accident has already garnered notableโข attentionโค in โthe United States, receiving “an amazingโ welcome from recent Telluride and Toronto festivals.” He explainsโ that representing a country is the onlyโ viable path to Oscar contention for the โfilm, as โฃIran has consistently refused to submit โJafar Panahi’sโ work for consideration.
The situation highlights a broader issueโ forโค filmmakers from countries โwith restrictive governments. Academy rulesโข require directors from such nations to obtainโ government approval โto be eligible for Oscar nomination. Panahi โฃhimself publicly criticized this requirement during a press conference at the Busan Internationalโค Film Festival in South Korea on September 17th.โค
“The academy has no specific programโข for us. โWhen weโ make films, we can โsend them to โขinternational festivals without having to obtain official authorization from Iran.But when itโข comes to the academy, we must obtain authorizationโ from our own government,”โ Panahi stated. He further urged the Academy to โ”find a way not โฃto link filmmakers to thier government,” advocating โfor self-reliant โfilmmakers โto be able โto submit their workโข without facing governmental obstacles.
Theโ next steps in the process โขinclude theโ announcement โof โa longlist of fifteen preselected films โon December 16th. Should A Simple โขAccident advance, aโค shortlist of five โnominees will be revealed on โJanuaryโค 22nd.Theโฃ ultimate winner will be announced on March 15th at the Dolby Theaterโค in Los Angeles.