🎥 Cinema: The Best Film in the World this year is Iranian

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🏆 No accidental win for Panahi

In the thriller It Was Just an Accident, a group of former prisoners find the man who tortured them in prison and debate whether or not to kill him. The movie is based on director Jafar Panahi’s own experiences. Having been imprisoned for over three years, and having spent the past 15 years not allowed to leave Iran, Panahi’s latest film completed his trilogy of golden triumphs at European film festivals. He previously won the Goldener Bär (Golden Bear) at Berlin for his 2015 film Taxi, and the Leone d'oro (Golden Lion) in Venice for his 2000 film The Circle, to accompany his Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) win this year.

Western European and North American media have repeatedly described him as a ‘dissident’ filmmaker, which is why in this issue of Signpost, we’re looking at how his win was reported in France (the home of Cannes) by observing the country’s biggest newspaper-of-record, Le Monde, and in Iran (the home of Panahi) by analysing the country’s biggest English language news media, Press TV.

🇫🇷 LE MONDE: Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi wins the Palme d'Or for 'It Was Just an Accident' [link]

📢 What Le Monde is saying
The historical and storied French newspaper spends half the article focused on Panahi’s win, including information about his struggles as a filmmaker. The rest of the article summarises the other winners at Cannes.

1. 📸 Visuals

There is only one visual for this story. At the top of the page, we see a beaming Panahi (from waist up) staring towards the camera with a big smile. Panahi is enveloped in black, with a black shirt, black tie, and a black jacket. He also sports round, black sunglasses. In his left hand he holds a scroll tied in a black and gold ribbon, while in his right hand, held aloft, is the Palme d’Or award, displayed for all to view. Behind him, in bokeh, are several photographers with their cameras at the ready.

2. ✍🏽 Words

The headline describes Panahi as an ‘Iranian dissident filmmaker’, before the subheading informs us that the movie was ‘inspired by Panahi’s own experience in prison’. His struggle is further emphasised by stating that for over 10 years, Panahi ‘made film clandestinely’ in Iran. The rest of the subheading tells us who won second prize at Cannes.

Jumping into the article proper, the first paragraph summarises the story, before reminding us that Panahi ‘had been banned from leaving Iran for more than 15 years’. The article continues to document his struggles, including how he was on a ‘hunger strike’ before being allowed to leave Iran, and how he shot films secretly in Iran including one ‘made in his living room’ and another ‘set in a car’. His win at Cannes led to a ‘thunderous standing ovation’, and was also ‘cheered by Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche’, who had ‘held up Panahi’s name’ in 2010 at the festival ‘when he was under house arrest’.

A quote from Panahi follows, in which he states that ‘what mattered most was freedom in his country’. A quick summary of the film is mentioned, including how Panahi himself was ‘jailed in Tehran’s Evin Prison’ when he went to ask about ‘his then-jailed friend’ and peer Mohammad Rasoulof. His ban on travelling out of Iran began ‘in 2009’ for ‘attending the funeral of a student killed’ in a protest, and in the years since he made films in Iran ‘without a permit’, smuggling them ‘to festivals on USB drives’.

The rest of the article recaps the other winners from Cannes this year, including the winners from Sweden (Grand Prix, or second prize, winner Sentimental Value), Brazil (Best Director and Best Actor winner The Secret Agent), Germany (the jury prize winner Sound of Falling), France (Best Actress winner The Little Sister), Belgium (Best Screenplay winner Young Mothers), and for the first time, Iraq (Camera d’Or, or best first film, winner The President’s Cake).

❓ What it means
The narrative here is how much Panahi struggled to make his film, and is therefore a worthy winner of the highest celebration of filmmaking in the world. It is true that Panahi was jailed and banned from travelling, and the article, rightly, documents this information for the readers. Celebrating his film as the best film in the world this year is also admirable.

However, as with any of such awards, the process to end up winner is skipped. While the story is focused on the creative achievements of the award, remember that the festival is an invite-only gala. Forget about submitting your film for competition, which is an entire process, even showing up to attend is strictly vetted and accredited.

Panahi clearly has a good understanding of making films for festivals, as showcased by his wins at Venice and Berlin previously. But this win isn’t a celebration of Iranian cinema. The whole story is focused on the pressures of the Iranian government on his creative process. And lest we forget, there was another Iranian film in competition, Woman and Child. That film was also nominated for the Palme d’Or, with the director also having been imprisoned in 2023. Unfortunately, he didn’t win, and therefore does not warrant a mention here.

⚠️ Why it matters
All communication is political, and film at it’s centre is a political art form. People make movies to portray a specific point of view. Le Monde, in it’s summary of the winners at Cannes this year has put the individual, in this case Panahi, front and centre, worthy of admiration and respect. However, it seems incredible to think that Panahi was able to make all these films and get them to festivals without anybody else’s help. Perhaps this is not the time to focus on the collective, but rather the individual. But it is a trope of film news media reporting — the individual genius who makes things happen by sheer will alone.

And while France celebrated the individual genius of Panahi, in Iran, the story was something else completely.

🇮🇷 PRESS TV: Iran summons French envoy over minister’s ‘meddlesome’ Cannes remarks [link]

📢 What Press TV is saying
This was the only article about the Palme d’Or winner I could find. Iran’s largest English language news media provides an aggressive and proudly biased article about Panahi’s win, which isn’t even about the win itself. Rather, it’s about the political wrangling after the win based on comments made by France’s foreign minister.

1. 📸 Visuals

There is only one image in this article, and it sits at the top of the page. In it, we don’t see the faces of the people mentioned in the article, but rather a ‘file photo’ of the Iranian Foreign Ministry building in Tehran. The image is of an imposing brown building which looks like a mixture of Iranian and neoclassical architecture. The building is held up by four impressive columns, and has a dark blue sign at the top, with Farsi writing. Six trees line the front of the building. While the sky is blue, the trees are in a shade of brown that match the building, indicating that this picture was taken in autumn.

2. ✍🏽 Words

Here’s a quick summary of the story: following Panahi’s win at Cannes, the French foreign minister posted on X that the win was a ‘gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime’s oppression’. The Iranian regime in question took offence, and summoned France’s envoy in Iran to officially register their complaint. Again, this is the only story I could find that referred to Panahi’s win immediately after Cannes.

Returning to the article, the headline mentions the French foreign minister’s statement as ‘meddlesome’. The article then opens with a quick summary of the incident, saying that the French envoy in Iran was sent for to ‘protest meddlesome remarks’ made by the French foreign minister following the win of an ‘Iranian film’ which won ‘an award’ at Cannes. This is followed by a quote from the ‘Head of the Second Department for Western Europe at Iran’s Foreign Ministry’ who called the allegations “insulting” and “unfounded”, saying they were a “blatant interference in Iran’s internal affairs”.

He continued to call them “irresponsible and provocative”, asking for an 'official explanation’ from the French foreign minister. He also ‘condemned’ France’s government for the ‘exploitation’ of the festival to ‘advance its own political objectives against Iran’. Further quotes follow, accusing France of being the “main supporters of the Zionist regime (Israel)”, indicating that France “has no moral authority” to make accusations regarding “human rights” in other countries.

Here, the article admits that ‘for his part’, the French enjoy said ‘he will convey Tehran’s protest to his government’. Finally, we learn the name of the film and the award that it won at Cannes, followed by a partial quote from the French foreign minister’s post, saying he claimed the film would ‘reignite “hope for freedom fighters around the world”’.

❓ What it means
Sometimes a news media makes their agenda very clear. Such is the case with state-owned Press TV. Consider that the first news article in Press TV about Panahi’s win comes regarding this political kerfuffle. Consider also that Panahi’s name, his film’s name, and the award he won are all hidden away at the bottom of the article.

Then consider that Panahi was jailed and banned for several years. Of course Iran’s government mouthpiece doesn’t want to celebrate his win. As is the case with many artistic and political troublemakers, countries are very happy to denounce or even ignore their own citizens who find success elsewhere at the expense of their own government. Interestingly, Panahi has since returned to Tehran, to ‘cheers’ (according, once again, to Western European media).

⚠️ Why it matters
Press TV is very open and obvious in its bias, which begs the question, who is this for? Supposedly, it’s for English speaking populations who live in the Global South. It is Iran’s attempt at their version of RT (Russia), TRT (Turkey), CCTV (China) and more, to develop and promote an Iranian view of the world that is easily accessible to those outside Iran.

The truth is that it is highly unlikely most people within Iran will ever get to see Panahi’s films, and that too it will likely be restricted to the upper classes within the film fraternity. While France insists that this is the best film in the world this year, Iranians will carry on doing whatever they are doing, and the rest of the world will continue to move on.

WHAT’S GOING ON? 

⚔️ Official narrative versus official narrative

In France, the official narrative is that while Iran is hellbent on imprisoning all it’s filmmakers, Cannes and the wider European film community will recognise talent and celebrate it, especially when it comes from more creatively challenging environments. In Iran, the official narrative is that France is politicising their creative celebrations by rewarding unsanctioned filmmakers who only want to make Iran look bad.

Unfortunately, this whole saga has become more about a disagreement between individuals, rather than any wider celebration of Iranian cinema, which is well regarded especially in Western cinematic circles. And that’s part of the challenge.

Film festivals, while important to support the artistic approach to cinema, are increasingly walled gardens. Cannes is invite-only. Most of us will never get to see the award winning films screened there. Which means that for a movie-going public, we are essentially stuck on the outside looking in. Meanwhile, Iran and France have another political argument on X.

Which begs the question, what is the point of film festivals anymore? Who really benefits from film festivals? Is it the host country, to portray cultural and political relevance and power? Is it independent and oppressed filmmakers, to showcase their craft? Or is it the exclusive film fraternity, to celebrate itself and have a big party?

The truth, as always, is somewhere in between.
Read widely. Question thoroughly. Decide accordingly.

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Was this forwarded to you? Signpost is a free weekly newsletter analysing what the media says, what it means, and why it matters. It’s free to subscribe. Alternatively, you can add me on LinkedIn.