Iranian Film Director Sentenced to a Year in Prison Before Winning Big at Gotham Awards

The ‘It Was Just an Accident’ director took home three trophies at the Dec. 1 Gotham Awards.

Jafar Panahi poses with the awards for best international features, best original screenplay, and best director at The Gotham Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in New York on Dec. 1, 2025. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Iranian director Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison on charges of creating propaganda “against the system,” his lawyer, Mostafa Nili, announced on Dec. 1.

Panahi, 65, was also barred from leaving Iran for two years and is prohibited from joining any political or social groups, Nili noted on X.