Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident has gained the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, which wrapped on Saturday evening (Might 25).
Scroll down for full list of winners
It’s the Iranian director’s first movie since his launch from jail and follows a person, his closely pregnant spouse, and their younger daughter as they get right into a minor automotive accident that units off a darkish chain of occasions.
In his speech Panahi addressed “all Iranians, with totally different opinions, in Iran and world wide”. He stated: “An important factor is our nation and the liberty of our nation. Let’s arrive at this second, collectively, when nobody dares to say what we must always put on, what we must always or shouldn’t do.”
The win marks a exceptional sixth consecutive Palme d’Or triumph for US firm Neon, which holds North American rights (Mubi has a number of worldwide territories), because it has achieved with the final 5 winners Anora, Anatomy Of A Fall, Triangle Of Disappointment, Titane, and Parasite.
There have been six awards in all from 5 movies on the Cannes slate of French powerhouse mk2 (It Was Just An Accident, Sentimental Worth, The Secret Agent, The Sound Of Falling, and The Little Sister), and 5 from 4 movies on Neon’s roster (It Was Just An Accident, Sentimental Worth, The Secret Agent, and Sirât).
Earlier within the day It Was Just An Accident collectively topped Display screen’s Cannes jury grid grid alongside Two Prosecutors.
The ceremony went with no hitch regardless of a large energy outage that lower electrical energy throughout the South of France earlier within the day and noticed the entire shutdown of all exercise in Cannes. By round 3pm native time, energy had returned as expertise and organisers scrambled to prepare for the pink carpet.
Different awards
Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Worth took the Grand Prix. Trier’s third image in Cannes Competitors stars Renate Reinsve as a stage actress who has a sophisticated relationship together with her estranged father, performed by Stellan Skarsgard.
The very best actress award went to Nadia Melliti for her position as a 17-year-old French Algerian lady grappling together with her attraction to girls and her Muslim religion in Hafsia Herzi’s The Little Sister.
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Seventies-set Brazilian political thriller The Secret Agent gained two prizes. Filho was named finest director and accepted the perfect actor prize for Wagner Moura. For a quick second Filho was lacking in motion when his identify was referred to as out and the viewers could possibly be heard shouting, “The place is he?”. “I used to be ingesting champagne” the filmmaker joked whereas speeding again on stage.
Da’Vine Pleasure Randolph handed out the jury prize that was shared by Oliver Laxe’s Sirât and Mascha Schilinski’s Sound Of Falling.
Two-time Palme d’Or-winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne gained the perfect screenplay award for Younger Moms, about 5 women grappling with the challenges of parenting a new child.
The Digital camera d’Or, awarded to the perfect debut characteristic by all sections, went to Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi’s The President’s Cake (Administrators’ Fortnight), with a particular point out going to Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow that performed in Un Sure Regard. The award for The President’s Cake is the primary to be given to an Iraqi movie in Cannes.
Chinese language director Bi Gan’s fantasy epic Resurrection gained the particular award.
The ceremony was hosted by French actor Laurent Lafitte, who kicked off the evening by reminding everybody that “the essence of the pageant remains to be the identical – the movies and people who make them”.
This yr’s jury comprised president Juliette Binoche, plus Halle Berry, Jeremy Robust, Payal Kapadia, Alba Rohrwacher, Leila Slimani, Dieudo Hamadi, Hong Sangsoo, and Carlos Reygadas.
The prizes for the Un Sure Regard strand and the Administrators’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week sidebars have been introduced earlier this week
Cannes 2025 Competitors awards
Palme d’Or: It Was Just An Accident, dir. Jafar Panahi
Grand Prix: Sentimental Worth, dir. Joachim Trier
Jury Prize: tie between Sirat, dir. Oliver Laxe and The Sound Of Falling, dir. Mascha Schilinski
Finest Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, The Secret Agent
Finest Screenplay: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Younger Moms
Finest Actress: Nadia Melliti, The Little Sister
Finest Actor: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Particular Award: Resurrection, dir. Bi Gan
Digital camera d’Or: The President’s Cake, dir. Hasan Hadi
Particular point out: My Father’s Shadow, dir. Akinola Davies Jr
Brief Film Palme d’Or: I’m Glad You’re Lifeless Now, dir. Tawfeek Barhom
Particular Point out: Ali, dir. Adnan Al Rajeev.
