Cannes: Iranian Jafar Panahi wins the Palme d'Or for "A Simple Accident"

Cannes. Iranian director Jafar Panahi has won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival with his film "A Simple Accident," the jury announced. The film prevailed against 21 other films in competition. The jury chaired by actress Juliette Binoche made the decision.

In "A Simple Accident," the Iranian explores experiences in prison and the violence of the Iranian regime. Panahi has already won top prizes at the Venice Film Festival and the Berlinale with previous films.

His new work is about a group of former prisoners who unintentionally kidnap the agent who allegedly tortured them in an Iranian prison. One of the torture victims accidentally sees the secret agent again and kidnaps him on his bus, aiming to take revenge and kill him.

Then, however, the man begins to have doubts. He visits several other torture victims. Together, they try to verify that this is definitely the man whose victims they were.

This develops into a kind of chaotic road trip, during which the group gets into heated discussions about what constitutes an appropriate form of revenge. Often, the discussions revolve around the deeply violent experiences the participants had while in captivity. Despite the serious subject matter, the film also contains humorous moments.

The awards ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival took place as planned after a major power outage in Cannes on Saturday.

Berliner Mascha Schilinski won the Jury Prize for her drama “Looking into the Sun,” which she shared with Oliver Laxe for his film “Sirât.”

The Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second most important award, went to “Sentimental Value” by Joachim Trier.

Kleber Mendonça Filho received the Best Director award for "The Agent's Secret." Bi Gan received a Special Jury Prize for "Resurrection." Nadia Melliti received the Best Actress award for her role in "The Little Last Actress."

Wagner Moura was honored as Best Actor for his role in Kleber Mendonça Filho's "The Agent's Secret." Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne were honored for Best Screenplay for "Jeunes Mères."

RND/dpa