It Was Just An Accident director Jafar Panahi lands in the U.S. after visa delay

The Palm d'Or-winning director will appear at Beyond Fest and the New York Film Festival, where a canceled talk with Martin Scorsese has been rescheduled.

By Matt Schimkowitz | October 7, 2025 | 8:26pm

(Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Film News Jafar Panahi

It Was Just An Accident director Jafar Panahi lands in the U.S. after visa delay

It’s no accident. After a week of visa delays, director Jafar Panahi has arrived in the U.S. Last week, Panahi, who was set to debut his Palm d’Or winner, It Was Just an Accident, at the New York Film Festival, missed the screening due to a visa delay caused by the government shutdown. Per Deadline, however, he has since received his visa, allowing Panahi to land in the U.S. for Beyond Fest in Los Angeles, where he’ll participate in a Q&A following a screening of It Was Just An Accident. In addition to Beyond Fest, Panahi will make it over to the Big Apple on Wednesday for a rescheduled screening and Q&A, as well as a conversation with Martin Scorsese later in the week. Initially scheduled for last week, the public chat between two of the world’s most revered directors will take place on Friday.

Panahi’s delay set off alarm bells in the film community, primarily because Panahi has been subject to political persecution for his work. He has not been in the U.S. for 25 years and in that time has become a persistent target of the Iranian government, which has jailed, banned, and censored him numerous times in the intervening years. Most recently, in July 2022, he was arrested while visiting two other jailed Iranian directors, Mohammad Rasoulof (Seed Of The Sacred Fig) and Mostafa Aleahmad. Panahi was held until February 2023, when he began a hunger strike. He was released 48 hours later.