Latest news with #ItWasJustanAccident
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
I Helped Pick National Endowment for the Arts Grant Recipients. Trump Eliminated Many of Them
At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Palme d'Or winner Jafar Panahi delivered the ultimate rebuke to the attempted censorship of art: His acclaimed It Was Just an Accident, in which a group of ex-prisoners kidnap their torturer, was made only a short time after his seven-month prison sentence. Over the years, Panahi has confronted attempts to restrict his work through various clandestine methods that may be instructive to Americans in the present climate. If that sounds extreme, look at the evisceration of recent National Endowment for the Arts grants that have proved vital to America's film culture. These decisions suggest an effort to suppress all but the most overt nationalistic efforts from American artists, a fool's errand given the outspoken nature of the creative community, and one that is not unfamiliar around the globe. Censorship has wormed its way into American cinema. More from The Hollywood Reporter Bono Weighs in on Trump-Bruce Springsteen Drama: "There's Only One Boss in America" Trump Pardons Rapper NBA Youngboy, Who Was Sentenced for Gun-Related Charges Trump Plans to Pardon Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley In many other countries, efforts to reduce creativity to propaganda often lead to filmmakers navigating the system in unique ways, with some recent examples on display at this year's Cannes. We'll get to that shortly, but first, it's worth considering the immediate impact of the assault on the NEA. The organization's effects may register as minimal relative to film-financing efforts overseas. Watch any random movie in the Cannes selection and you're bound to see a parade of opening credits signaling production resources from across Europe, including many national film funds. America has never possessed any public financing body on that scale, but for years, at least it had the NEA. A week before Cannes, the Trump administration eliminated countless NEA grants that recipients — from theaters to arts organizations — expected to receive. Last summer, I served on an NEA panel that selected a few of these finalists. While I'm not at liberty to reveal those entities, many of them were critical to the support system necessary for cinema to thrive on America's margins: The list included film clubs, festivals, screening series and other collective efforts to sustain an expansive presence for moviegoing beyond the biggest commercial offerings. These funds rarely exceed tens of thousands of dollars, but they help sustain organizations that foster filmmaking on the local level, efforts that help ensure both audiences and artists continue to engage with movies as a part of America's entertainment infrastructure. The decision to disburse these funds unfolded under circumstances rarely discussed in public due to a confidentiality arrangement that, as far as I'm concerned, has been nullified by the cancellations. It was a democratic process the whole way through. NEA administrators shared dozens of applications for panelists to review and required that we share not only numerical scores, but also written comments for each one. This was followed by a series of Zoom conversations that allowed for greater nuance in the decisions made. In essence, the American government outsourced its support of the arts to the creative community. Throughout the deliberations, nobody used the letters 'DEI' to justify their decisions, though the future administration would later claim such logic was behind many of the canceled grants in the months to come. Instead, many of the conversations centered around geographic balance, as applicants from underserved arts communities in states ranging from New Mexico to Florida received special attention, even as established entities in big cities sailed through based on their obvious institutional needs. Because panelists had to provide written feedback with each application, it wasn't possible to simply skim applications for appealing buzzwords. By paying close attention to each submission, panelists grappled with not only the specific needs, but also how each organization or entity made the case. As a result, in early June, we convened to discuss a final top 10 that included a major university as well as several film festivals and financing bodies from across the country. Sure, some of them supported underrepresented communities — but they did more than that. Ironically, given the rhetoric around tariffs and overseas filmmaking taking away American jobs, these resources would have provided a valuable foundation for more production to take place on the local level. Instead, their cancellations amount to explicit censorship, as well as missed opportunities for economic growth. In light of that, this year's Cannes lineup was instructive in unexpected ways, as it demonstrated the way certain filmmakers navigate their own autocratic threats to freedom of expression. Only at Cannes could one find immediate parallels between Iran, Israel and Ukraine. All three countries produced major cinematic works that contend with life under oppressive leadership, despite those countries having oversight on the stories they tell. Panahi's It Was Just an Accident is a searing indictment of the country's regime. It's safe to say that no major filmmaker has courted the animus of his government as much as Panahi, who has found savvy ways to direct movies even while officially banned from making them. His diary-like home production This Is Not a Film was produced under house arrest, while the masterful Taxi was shot within the confines of a cab that the director himself drove around Tehran. Panahi was jailed for nearly seven months between 2022 and 2023, but stuck around upon his release to make It Was Just an Accident with his usual savviness. According to sources on the production, Panahi submitted the project to Iran's Ministry of Culture for shooting permits by describing it as a documentary. Sometimes you have to break the rules to produce the art worth fighting for. Then there is Nadav Lapid's Yes, which follows a hard-partying Tel Aviv couple conflicted over the war in Gaza. Lapid has long cast a critical gaze on his country with celebrated works such as Policeman and Syndromes, but Yes marks his first undertaking since the Oct. 7 attack. It's a brazen and shocking satire of a nation living comfortably while unspeakable horrors take place on their doorstep. Directing the movie in the immediate aftermath of Israel's Gaza invasion, Lapid had to work under guerrilla conditions, outsourcing his financing needs to France, and finding additional support from the independent financing body the Israel Film Fund. Lapid reportedly gained a secondary citizenship in France to receive international financing as a means of overcoming the limited support he received on the homefront, where the government was wary of his production during such divisive times. Censorship has gradually crept into Israeli society, with the government often taking a hard line against even the hint of pro-Palestinian sentiments in locally produced art. Lapid's new movie certainly has that, though it couches the perspective within a pair of protagonists clearly divided over their allegiances. This appears to have been a storytelling tactic that allowed the movie to sneak through the hurdles necessary to get made. One last example stems from a subtler form of censorship. In 2023, Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa was booted from the Ukrainian Film Academy after he voiced opposition to the decision to exclude Russian films from the European Film Awards. 'Many friends and colleagues, Russian filmmakers, have taken a stand against this insane war,' Loznitsa wrote in an open letter at the time. 'They are victims, as we are, of this aggression.' Loznitsa's latest movie, Two Prosecutors, serves as the next stage of that response. Set in the Soviet Union circa 1937, the bracing drama finds a newly graduated law student attempting to exonerate an imprisoned prosecutor falsely accused by Stalin's regime. An idealist who believes in the law, the young prosecutor finds himself lost in a Kafkaesque labyrinth of prison cells in his efforts to locate and assist the prisoner — who has resigned himself to his fate. Despite the gloomy overtones, Loznitsa's powerful movie asserts that goodness hides within the confines of institutional control, worming its way through the boundaries of bureaucratic red tape in an effort to do some good. In America, there is no shortage of similar stories demanding to be told, no matter the economic censorship that might slow them down. Seek international support, bury the lead or hide in the shadows to make the work as pure as possible: These are the global lessons for America from this year's Cannes Film Festival. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
The Hindu
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Kamal Haasan interview and ‘Karate Kid: Legends' review
Around Tinsel Town Cannes Film Festival 2025 comes to a close Power outages may have shrouded the French Riviera in literal darkness on the final day of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, but the Palais still managed to deliver an electric finale. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi took home the Palme d'Or for his absurdist drama, It Was Just an Accident, marking both a personal and political victory for its maker, but also for U.S. distributor Neon, now six-for-six in Cannes' top prize. Here's a collection of stories from the Cannes Film Festival 2025: > Jafar Panahi's 'It Was Just an Accident' wins Palme d'Or, a staggering sixth straight triumph for Neon > Chilean AIDS drama 'The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo' wins Un Certain Regard while India's 'Homebound' leaves empty-handed > Complete list of winners from the closing ceremony > The true story behind Neeraj Ghaywan's 'Homebound', inspired by a pandemic-era New York Times essay > India's appearances on the red carpet and beyond, in pictures > Alia Bhatt attends the closing ceremony red carpet in custom Gucci gown > Panda wins the 2025 Palm Dog award at Cannes — and a look-alike accepts > Power outage hits Cannes region during film festival Bollywood Sandeep Reddy Vanga fires back after Deepika Padukone's exit from 'Spirit' 'Son of Sardar' actor Mukul Dev passes away at 54 'Hera Pheri 3' controversy: Paresh Rawal responds to Akshay Kumar's suit, says exit from film was 'rightful' CBFC clears 'Dhadak 2' after 16 cuts, including altered anti-caste references Abhishek Banerjee-led crime thriller 'Stolen' gets premiere date Hollywood HBO's 'Harry Potter' finds its Harry, Hermoine and Ron from a pool of 30,000 'Andor' Season 2 submitted in 23 Emmy categories as Disney positions frontrunning contention 'The Wheel of Time' gets cancelled after three seasons Chris Hemsworth's Thor tribute fuels MCU exit rumors ahead of 'Avengers: Doomsday' Miley Cyrus reveals she caught 'brutal infection' on kneecap after shooting 'Something Beautiful' on Hollywood Walk of Fame Regional Cinema Kamal Haasan sparks outrage with 'Kannada came from Tamil' claim, BJP demands apology Actor Unni Mukundan booked for allegedly assaulting manager Mani Ratnam responds to Anurag Kashyap's criticism of English lyrics in Tamil songs Hombale Films of 'KGF' and 'Kantara' fame announces project with Hrithik Roshan 'Kannappa' hard drive containing crucial movie VFX visuals gets 'stolen': The perpetrator's identity is known, say producers Trailers Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh are murder suspects in the trailer for 'Housefull 5' The Straw Hats throw a slumber party as Netflix teases Chopper ahead of TUDUM in teaser for 'One Piece' Live-Action Season 2 Keanu Reeves plays a downcast angel in Aziz Ansari comedy in teaser for 'Good Fortune' YouTubers investigate a haunted property in Srinidhi Bengaluru's found footage thriller in teaser for 'Video' Vijay Antony investigates a 'devil' in this unique investigative thriller in the trailer for 'Maargan' Essential reading 1) Kamal Haasan interview: On 'Thug Life', AI in cinema and his unrealised projects >> Kamal Haasan on reuniting with director Mani Ratnam for 'Thug Life', releasing on June 5 2) Silambarasan TR interview: On Kamal Haasan's 'Thug Life' and making a 'fanboy sambavam' with Ashwath Marimuthu >> The star opens up on a lesson he learnt from Kamal Haasan's approach to stardom, why he no longer seeks validation from the results of his films, and the criticism he has faced as a star who doesn't push himself enough 3) Interview | Basharat Peer on the story that became 'Homebound' >> As 'Homebound' evokes global interest, writer and journalist Basharat Peer takes us to the origins of the moving tale of friendship and upholding human dignity in the face of tragedy 4) Roshan Mathew interview: On 'Kankhajura' and feeling at home in Hindi cinema >> Actor Roshan Mathew opens up on his upcoming web series 'Kankhajura', playing complex roles and picking the right scripts for Hindi web series 5) Malayalam filmmaker Manu Swaraj on his directorial debut, 'Padakkalam', a sleeper hit at the box office >> Manu Swaraj, who has assisted Basil Joseph in 'Kunjiramayanam' and Minnal Murali, talks about his directorial debut, 'Padakkalam', a fantasy entertainer 6) Lights, Camera, Kathipara: Chennai's vanishing role in Tamil cinema >> Since the '60s and '70s, Tamil filmmakers have found fascinating ways to celebrate Chennai on celluloid. However, in the last five years, filmmakers have largely refrained from using the city as a storytelling instrument 7) Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025: Fan-favorite action spectacle 'Solo Leveling' topples fronturunner 'Frieren' in massive populist upset >> Straddling the demands of blockbuster appeal and the yearning for introspective artistry, the 'Solo Leveling–Frieren' face-off offers up a microcosm to the state of the anime community today 8) 'Tintin'-style comic book makeover for 'Lakadbaggha' film action hero >> With an eye on young readers and audiences, actor Anshuman Jha turns his 2023 indie film into a comic book 9) Rajesh: An actor who could traverse the arc of emotions >> When Tamil cinema moved from the MGR-Sivaji Ganesan era and stepped into the decades shaped by Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan from the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rajesh carved his own unique space What to watch 1) Read the full review here 2) Read the full review here 3) Read the full review here 4) Read the full review here 5) Read the full review here 6) 'The Last of Us' Season 2 finale is a somewhat jumbled set-up for Season 3 Read the full review here 7) Guy Ritchie's Indiana Jones-wannabe, Fountain of Youth' is a mealy mouthed bore Read the full review here 8) Narivetta is an uncomfortable story that needed to be told Read the full review here
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jafar Panahi Wins Cannes Palme d'Or for ‘It Was Just an Accident'
Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has won the Palme d'Or for best film for It Was Just an Accident at the 78th Cannes international film festival. Panahi, who just a few years ago was imprisoned in Tehran and under a 20-year travel and work ban, returned triumphantly to Cannes, accepting his award from jury president (and vocal Panahi fan) Juliette Binoche. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Romería' Review: Carla Simón Dives Deep Into Painful Family History in an Act of Reclamation That's Equal Parts Shimmering and Meandering 'Magellan' Review: Gael Garcia Bernal Plays the Famous Explorer in Lav Diaz's Exquisitely Shot Challenge of an Arthouse Epic Cannes: Oliver Laxe's 'Sirat' Sells Wide Internationally Panahi's film, his first since being released from prison in 2023, is a direct assault on Iran's authoritarian regime. The thriller follows a former political prisoner who kidnaps a man he believes to be his torturer and then debates with other dissidents whether to kill or forgive him. The win marks the sixth time in a row a film acquired by Neon for North America has won the Palme d'Or. Tom Quinn's indie outfit kept its Cannes streak going by picking up It Was Just an Accident earlier this week. With his Cannes win, Jafar Panahi has now completed the rare festival triple crown, winning the top prize at all three major European film festivals, following his Golden Lion win in Venice for The Circle (2000) and Berlin's Golden Bear for Taxi (2015). Panahi is only the fourth director — after Henri-Georges Clouzot, Michelangelo Antonioni and Robert Altman — to win the big three. The 2025 Cannes jury included actors Halle Berry, Jeremy Strong and Italy's Alba Rohrwacher; directors Dieudo Hamadi, Hong Sang-soo, Payal Kapadia and Carlos Reygadas; and French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani. The festival got its own dramatic twist ending early on Saturday when a regional power outage shut down the electrical grid serving Cannes and much of the surrounding region. The outage, apparently caused by deliberate sabotage on the electrical infrastructure, disrupted early morning screenings and forced hotels, shops and cafes in the city to close. But the festival was largely unaffected. The Palais, where the closing ceremony is held, switched to emergency power and carried on much as before. Cannes had a particularly strong lineup this year, with no single film the overall frontrunner going into the awards. Binoche began the ceremony by bestowing a special prize on Chinese director Bi Gan for Resurrection. Rohrwacher gave the Camera d'Or trophy for first feature to The President's Cake director Hasan Hadi, who is the first Iraqi director to win a prize in Cannes. John C. Reilly, in Cannes for the Un Certain Regard film Heads or Tails?, added a musical touch to the ceremony, breaking out into an English-language rendition of 'La Vie en Rose' when presenting best screenplay prize to two-time Palme d'Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for the Belgian social drama Young Mothers. Brazilian actor Wagner Moura took best actor for his starring role in The Secret Agent, Kleber Mendonça Filho's 1970s-set Brazilian political thriller. In a rare double award, Filho also took best director for the feature. Newcomer Nadia Melliti beat out Jennifer Lawrence's turn in Lynne Ramsay's Die, My Love to take the best actress honor, playing the lead role in Hafsia Herzi's Muslim lesbian coming-of-age story The Little Sister. German director Mascha Schilinski won the Jury Prize for Sound of Falling, only her second film, an epic family drama set across four generations in the same rural farmhouse. She shared the honor with Spanish director Oliver Laxe for Sirat, a techno-infused apocalyptic drama set in the Moroccan desert. A full list of winners follows: Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value Mascha Schilinski for Sound of Falling and Oliver Laxe for Sirat (tie) Kleber Mendonça Filho for The Secret Agent Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Young Mothers Nadia Melliti for The Little Sister Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent Resurrection, dir. Bi Gan The President's Cake, dir: Hassan Hadi I'm Glad You're Dead Now, dir: Tawfeek Barhom Ali, dir. Adnan Al Rajeev Un Certain Regard PrizeThe Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, dir. Diego Céspedes Jury PrizeA Poet, dir. Simón Mesa Soto Best DirectorOnce Upon a Time in Gaza, dir. Arab & Tarzan Nasser Best ScreenplayPillion, dir. Harry Lighton Best ActressI Only Rest in the Storm, dir. Pedro Pinho Best ActorFrank Dillane in Urchin, dir. Harris Dickinson Caméra d'Or for best first filmThe President's Cake, dir. Hassan Hadi Special MentionMy Father's Shadow, dir. Akinola Davies Jr La Cinef First PrizeFirst Summer, dir. Heo Gayoung (KAFA, South Korea) Second Prize12 Moments Before the Flag-Raising Ceremony, dir. Qu Zhizheng (Beijing Film Academy, China) Third PrizeGinger Boy, dir. Miki Tanaka (ENBU Seminar, Japan); Winter in March, dir. Natalia Mirzoyan (Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia) (Tie) The Higher Technical Commission for Sound and Images CST Award for Best Young Female TechnicianÉponine Momenceau, director of photography for Connemara, dir. Alex Lutz CST Artist-Technician Award Ruben Impens, Director of Photography, and Stéphane Thiébaut, Sound Mixer, for Alpha, dir. Julia Ducournau Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
From Cannes 2025: Five standout films you should watch next
With the Cannes Film Festival acting as a very early awards season indicator, these are the most acclaimed and notable films to put on your Must Watch List in 2025. The Cannes Film Festival is about more than Riviera-side schmoozing, 15-minute standing ovations and their booing flipside (plus the new addition of lengthy blackouts). The iconic film festival is an early indicator of potential award season contenders. Last year alone, Anora, which took home the festival's highest honour, the Palme d'Or, went on to win five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Fellow Oscar winners The Substance, controversial Emilia Pérez, and Animated Feature upset Flow all premiered at Cannes. Notably, before that, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite made the journey from Palme d'Or to Academy Award in 2019-2020, while legal drama-mystery Anatomy of a Fall picked up Best Original Screenplay at several awards ceremonies following its 2023 Palme d'Or win. The point is that it pays to keep an eye on what stands out at Cannes, whether competing (see the full 2025 winner's list here) or simply screening. These are the premieres from the 78th Festival de Cannes that you should keep a lookout for at local cinemas and film festivals in the coming months. Anti-authoritarianism earns accolades Film has always been a powerful medium to critique social and political injustice, and this year the Cannes main competition jury seemed eager to reward those movies vocal about power abuse and despotism. Case in point: the 2025 Palme d'Or went to It Was Just an Accident, from Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who has repeatedly been hit with filmmaking bans, travel restrictions and prison sentences from his country's authorities. Acclaim for It Was Just an Accident doesn't appear to be performative, though. Narratively straightforward, accessible, but also thought-provoking, the film sees an apparent everyman kidnapped by people who suspect that he may have been their prison torturer. Can they overrule their doubts and take revenge? Honourable mention: The only film to earn two awards at Cannes this year, The Secret Agent also features anti-totalitarian themes. Scoring Best Director for Kleber Mendonça Filho, and Best Actor for Narcos' Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent is a genre-hopping Brazilian thriller that explores how Carnival was used as a front in the 1970s to make the then-military dictatorship's opponents disappear. The latest auteur efforts For decades, the Cannes Film Festival has been catnip for the world's most acclaimed filmmakers. This year was no different, with Wes Anderson debuting his latest quirky all-star effort, The Phoenician Scheme, a few days before it comes to US cinemas on 30 May. Benicio del Toro plays a 1950s industrialist who, in the middle of a spate of assassination attempts, names his estranged daughter (Mia Threapleton), a nun, as his heir. The good news is that if you found Anderson's last few efforts over-styled and underwhelming, The Phoenician Scheme is apparently a return to enjoyable form. Largely thanks to Threapleton. Honourable mention: Spike Lee and Denzel Washington reunite for the first time in almost 20 years for Highest 2 Lowest, an English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low. Washington plays a successful New York City record producer forced into a ransom scenario that tests his morals. The film is already lined up for an Apple TV+ debut on 5 September. Queer experience on screens The Cannes Film Festival is always welcoming of LGBT+ content, even having an independent Queer Palm accolade for films that excel in their depiction of non cishet experience. There were several contenders for the award in 2025 (it eventually went to The Little Sister), but the most intriguing is the rule-bending romance Pillion. Described as a gay version of Babygirl, this directorial debut from Harry Lighton sees Harry Potter's Harry Melling enter into a sub/dom relationship with Alexander Skarsgård's aloof biker. It's kinky but also tender in its exploration of consensual power dynamics within a relationship. Honourable mention: South African filmmaker Oliver Hermanus, who previously made the likes of Moffie and Queer Palm winner Beauty (AKA Skoonheid), debuted historical gay romance The History of Sound at Cannes this year. Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor star as two men who connect over their mission to record American folk music circa World War I. The comparisons to Brokeback Mountain are there by default. A quick second shout-out also must go to Honey Don't!, a consciously B-grade detective comedy from Ethan Coen, which sees Margaret Qualley's lesbian private investigator hook up with Aubrey Plaza's cop. Charlie Day and Chris Evans also star. Of families and generations It's been called Arthouse with a capital A, but historical drama Sound of Falling, from German filmmaker Mascha Schilinski, emerges from Cannes heralded as something boldly original due to its storytelling approach – which dips into and interweaves the lives of four girls on a farm in northern Germany over the course of a century. It turns out that women's experience doesn't really change, with trauma having a way of seeping through time. Considered a grim watch, Sound of Falling was a tied winner of the Jury Prize (alongside Sirat), which is typically bestowed on up-and-coming filmmakers seen as driving the industry forward creatively. Honourable mention: The Grand Prize is Cannes's second highest honour and that went this year to Sentimental Value, from festival favourite Joachim Trier. Could this Norwegian drama, about the complex relationship between sisters, and daughters and fathers, finally earn Stellan Skarsgård an Oscar nomination? Also worthy of a Must Watch List spot is My Father's Shadow, the first ever Nigerian film to make it onto the festival's Official Selection. In his feature debut, British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr. has told a semi-autobiographical tale with his brother Wale, set against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian election. Siblings spend a day with their estranged father (Sope Dirisu) and learn surprising things. The film earned a Camera d'Or Special Mention. One to talk about Finally, if you're looking for the most divisive movie release of Cannes 2025, that dubious honour has to go to Eddington, the latest from Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid filmmaker Ari Aster. Is it an escalating parody of American divisiveness? Does it actually harbour MAGA leanings as it jeers at mask mandates and other liberal ideas? With a wider release set for July, you'll have to watch this moody modern Western, which pits Joaquin Phoenix's small-town sheriff against Pedro Pascal's mayor in the early days of the Covid pandemic, with their friends and neighbours taking sides, and things turning violent. DM
France 24
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- France 24
Iran Cannes winner Panahi backs trucker strikes
Panahi said people had had 'enough' Truck drivers across Iran were striking for a seventh day on Wednesday in a stoppage rare in its length and magnitude, seeking better conditions in a sector crucial for the economy in the Islamic republic. After starting last week in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the strike action has spread across the country, according to reports by monitoring groups on social media and Persian-language media based outside Iran. The truck drivers are protesting a rise in insurance premiums, poor road security, high fuel prices and low freight rates, according to union statements cited by these media. "They are fed up. They have no choice but to go strike," Panahi wrote on Instagram, having returned to Iran on Monday after winning the Palme d'or for his latest film "It Was Just an Accident". "When thieves and illiterate people are put in charge, the result is this terrible situation: corruption and mismanagement in everything, from the economy and culture to the environment and politics," added Panahi. The acclaimed director was long banned from filmmaking and unable to leave Iran, having also spent time in prison due to his political stances. "This strike is a loud call to the government saying: 'Enough! Stop all this oppression and plunder'," he said. Persian-language television channels based outside Iran, including Iran International and Manoto, which are critical of the government, said the strike was continuing Wednesday, broadcasting images of deserted roads sent from inside Iran as well as trucks parked up in cities including the central city of Isfahan. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the images. Tankers carrying fuel from the major refinery in Abadan in western Iran have now joined the strike, Manoto said. Iran International also said some participants had been arrested in the western city of Kermanshah, following arrests earlier this week in the southern city of Shiraz. The same outlets also indicated that there have been strikes in other sectors in Iran, notably by bakers who are angered by early morning power cuts when they are baking bread. © 2025 AFP
