It Was Just An Accident (Un Simple Accident), directed by Jafar Panahi, has been selected by France as this year’s official Oscars entry for the Best International Film category.
The film premiered earlier this year at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where Panahi was awarded the Palme d’Or award. It opens in US theaters on October 15, 2025.
The thriller follows Vahid, a car mechanic with a troubled past. Vahid is haunted by memories of being imprisoned by Iranian authorities years ago. Blindfolded during torture sessions, he carries only fragments of memory, often hearing sounds and sensations of being tortured.
Life takes an unexpected turn when Eghbal, a man with a prosthetic leg, enters his garage. The distinct sound of his step convinces Vahid he has found the man who once tormented him. What begins as a moment of recognition quickly escalates as Vahid abducts Eghbal and gathers other survivors to help uncover the truth.
In an interview with Deadline, Panahi states, “Sometimes when our pains are mixed with humor, they become more tolerable and perhaps seeing them is easier for the audience. The truth is that humor is in our culture, it’s embedded in it, and we don’t have to force it to enter a film or a story… It also entered the story by itself.”
The committee responsible for selecting the French film candidate for the 2026 Oscar picked the film from the shortlist which also included, in alphabetical order: Arco by Ugo Bienvenu; The Little Sister (La Petite Dernière) by Hafsia Herzi; New Wave by Richard Linklater; and Private Life of Rebecca Zlotowski.
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