by Mansour Jahani
According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist, Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, will hear the case of Jafar Panahi, the renowned Iranian director who won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and other prestigious international awards, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
Last year, while attending the Oscar campaign and promoting the film It Was Just an Accident, Panahi was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and a two-year ban from filmmaking on charges of “propaganda activity against the regime”.
With the objection of his lawyers and the acceptance of the appeal, the case has been placed on the court’s agenda for retrial.
Jafar Panahi returned to Iran on March 30, 2026, under war conditions, after the end of the 2026 Oscar Awards ceremony.
Photo By: Mansour Jahani
