Jafar Panahi Will Travel to U.S. for ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Awards Campaign, Calls on Oscars to Change International Feature Rules: They Don’t Work for ‘Countries With Despotic Regimes’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Jafar Panahi is one of a handful of directors to have achieved the feat of winning the Venice Golden Lion, the Berlin Golden Bear and the Cannes Palme d’Or. But he has never been part of the Oscar race.

Why? Because Iran has never put forth any of the films from the dissident director, who was long banned by the country from making movies — though he made them anyway — and has been twice incarcerated.

But with his recent Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just an Accident,” that is about to change. The film’s U.S. distributor Neon and its French producer, Philippe Martin, are now pushing Panahi for Oscar glory, starting with an attempt to get France to submit the film as their contender for best international feature.

Meanwhile, after making a stop at Toronto Film Festival, Panahi has obtained a visa to enter the U.S. and will be attending the Telluride and New York Film Festivals. The film, which follows a group of former political prisoners who kidnap a man whom they believe to be their former interrogator, will be released by Neon in the U.S. on Oct. 15.

According to Martin, France’s state film entity CNC has given its approval for the film to be on the shortlist of titles from which the country will pick its contender for the Oscars race.

“It’s a great opportunity for France to honor Panahi, noting that he is the only living director to have won top prizes and Cannes, Venice and Berlin,” Martin said, pointing out that the recent Cannes Palme generated an “unprecedented amount of press” and has had a “huge echo” both “artistically and politically.”

Below, Panahi speaks to Variety about what he’s been up to since Cannes and why an Oscar for “It Was Just an Accident” would be significant — not just for him, but for all “independent filmmakers who don’t want to be under the pressure of censorship.”

After Cannes you returned immediately to Iran. I saw video of you being greeted at the Tehran airport. What was the government’s reaction to your victory? Did it create any problems for you or anyone else involved in the film?

The government reacted like they always do. Usually, when there is big news of an honor for Iranian cinema, such as this prize — won by filmmakers who are not in line with government policies — they claim these are political awards and have no artistic merit. Their style is to highlight 5% out of all the film’s reviews, cherry-picking the ones that that are negative. And they usually broadcast these in their television and radio programs to tell the public that there is no artistic value behind the film. But the way the film was received by the House of Cinema, by women whose children are imprisoned and are held as political prisoners, was very different. They came and greeted me, both at the airport and at my home.

More in general, what have you been up to after Cannes? Have you been thinking about making another film?

Well no, because I have to be traveling for the “It Was Just an Accident” [awards] campaign. When I had limitations on my travels, at least the good aspect about it was that as soon as I finished a film, I had to start thinking about another film. But now, I will have to capitulate to what the distribution companies want and I have to do the campaign to promote this film.

Then, as I understand it, some time later you left Iran to go to a film festival in Sydney, Australia. While you were there, Israel attacked Iran. During the conflict you launched an appeal on Instagram, basically urging Iranians to rise up against the regime. Can you talk to me about the decision to make that statement and its possible consequences? 

The friends and I who wrote that statement have been saying the same thing for the past 15 years. Initially, we were calling for a referendum. As soon as you start calling for a referendum, it means that a regime has lost its legitimacy. When I was in prison, we kept asking for a referendum, but we were aware that it could no longer be the solution. We were aware that, while it is the only non-violent way for this regime to go, the regime itself is, by its very nature, not going to accept a referendum. So we keep asking for it, but we know that it is useless. The statement we made really had nothing to do with the fact that Iran was at war, being bombarded by Israel. It’s in line with what we have been already thinking and asking people to do.

Following the conflict with Israel, the situation in Iran has kind of faded out in the Western media, the spotlight being on Ukraine and Gaza. I know you don’t have a crystal ball, but what is your take: do you think the fall of the regime could be imminent?

During the Women, Life, Freedom movement we were sure that this regime has to go. And it will go. Because under all aspects it has been destroyed from within. We don’t know when it’s going to fall. It could be tomorrow; it could be a month; a year. We have no idea. But we are positive that it is going to fall.

Have you returned to Iran since the Israel-Iran conflict? 

When the war happened, I was in Sydney. I was trying very hard to go back to Iran and all the roads were closed. There was no way to get there. When I won the award [in Sydney], I wasn’t even willing to go on stage because I was extremely desolate, in a bad mental state. The judges came to my seat to give me the award because I was constantly thinking about the war and my country. After that, I got very close to the border and I tried to enter the country, but there was not way for me to go in. So I stayed in Paris. But I got on the first possible flight and did go back to Iran. When I got there, the Evin prison [where political prisoners are held] had been bombed and they had taken inmates to another prison. I picked up the mother of my friend who co-wrote the [“It Was Not an Accident”] script with me and we went to visit my friend in the other prison. 

Since then, I have traveled to other film festivals, including Locarno, and I might have to do more traveling. But anytime I am outside Iran, I get very depressed. I don’t have the ability to stay outside too long, so I am constantly looking for opportunities to go back, and I don’t have any issues with going back. Every time I go back, I get energized and I want to stay.

Let’s talk about opening “It Was Not an Accident” in the U.S. and the Oscar campaign behind the film. How does it feel to be part of an international awards campaign for the first time?

Unfortunately, none of my films have ever been put forth by Iran for the Oscars. I remember for “Offside” (2006) Sony wrote a letter to Iranian officials asking them to allow the film to be screened in Iran to comply with Academy rules [that Oscar contenders must be released in their country of origin], but the government refused. Neither before or after this have any of my films screened in Iran. These are opportunities [to win Oscars] that have constantly been taken away from Iranian cinema by the government. It’s not just [about] my films, but the films of my friends who also never got a shot at Oscars. After that incident, I never really thought much about them.  

Now with the distribution of this film [by Neon] and the post-production of this film in France and in Luxembourg, I don’t really know what is going to happen. I don’t know if either of these countries are going to put the film forward [as their Oscar contender]. 

How do you see the prospects of France or Luxembourg picking “It Was Just and Accident” as their Oscar candidate?

It is my greatest wish that all my films be put forth [for Oscar consideration] by my own country. I think the real problem lies within the Academy rules. I don’t understand when they are going to finally change the rules [pertaining to governments being involved in the selection process]. The Academy is the only cultural entity that makes filmmakers around the world depend on their governments. When filmmakers send their films to festivals they don’t have to rely on any government institutions. The Academy rules work for countries with democratic governments but not for countries with despotic regimes. If I want to compete at the Oscars, I have to make a film that complies with the taste and the styles of the government for them to even show it in Iran.

The Olympics has a category for independent athletes. Would you like there to be an Oscar category for independent filmmakers who are not aligned with their governments? 

Yes, but we would have to see how this would play out in reality. You would have to find people around the world [to set up a committee] to choose films made by independent filmmakers. So I believe it’s a good idea, but what really matters is how it would be executed. Meanwhile, a group of filmmakers is in the process of drafting a letter and sending it to the Academy to say, “What you’ve been doing is not really working and you need to establish a new category.”

What would be the significance of “It Was Not an Accident” winning one or more Oscars? What would it mean to you, and what do think it could signify more broadly?

I think that it would benefit many independent filmmakers who don’t want to be under the pressure of censorship and who would get a boost. They would be able to make independent films without having to worry about government limitations. I believe everyone would benefit from it.

The current limitations on competing for Oscars remind me of being told by the Iranian government that I could no longer make films. I was banned from making films for about 20 years. But both myself and my filmmaker friend Mohammad Rasoulof did not despair. We kept thinking about how we could make films, and eventually we succeeded. Now, many Iranian films that are independently made are being shown in festivals around the world. By creating a new category, the Oscars, like other film events around the world, would have a very positive effect on allowing filmmakers to continue making their films and giving them hope.