Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi delivered an emotional and uncompromising call to action at the National Board of Review gala in New York, using the platform to draw global attention to the escalating violence in Iran.
Accepting the NBR’s Best International Film award for It Was Just An Accident, Panahi addressed the ongoing crackdown in his home country. “As we stand here, the state of Iran is gunning down protestors and a savage massacre continues, blatantly, on the streets of Iran,” he said.
Panahi urged artists and filmmakers worldwide to break their silence. “I consider it my duty to call on artists and members of the global film community to speak out and not remain silent. Use any voice and any platform you have. Call your governments. Call on your governments to confront this human catastrophe rather than turn a blind eye,” he implored.
The director, who has previously been imprisoned in Iran, made It Was Just An Accident in secret. Despite winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the Iranian regime issued an arrest warrant weeks ago should he return. Since then, the situation inside the country has deteriorated sharply, with nationwide protests met by a brutal crackdown that has reportedly left thousands killed or jailed. Internet and telecommunications blackouts have made it difficult to verify the full scale of the violence. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has publicly vowed that the regime will not retreat.
“The Islamic republic has caused a bloodbath to delay its collapse,” Panahi said. “Those who have survived are searching for signs of their loved ones through mountains of corpses.”
Last week, Panahi and fellow Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof issued a joint statement calling on the international community to intervene. Their appeal echoed similar demands from the Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association, which has been documenting the toll on Iran’s artistic community.
On Sunday, the association confirmed the deaths of actor and theatre director Ahmad Abbasi and filmmaker and production manager Javad Ganji, who were shot by regime forces while attending protests in Tehran on January 9.
Panahi closed his remarks by drawing a stark line between cinema and the reality unfolding in Iran. “Today, the real scene is not on screens, but on the streets of Iran. This is no longer a metaphor. This is not a story. This is not a film. This is a reality, riddled with bullets, day after day,” he said. “Cinema has the power to stand by defenseless people. Let’s stand by them.”
His speech transformed an awards ceremony into a moment of political reckoning, underscoring how global cultural platforms are increasingly being used by artists to confront unfolding human crises beyond the screen.
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