Mubi Buys Jafar Panahi’s ‘It Was Just an Accident’ for Multiple Territories Including U.K. (EXCLUSIVE)

Further pursuing its acquisition spree at the Cannes Film Festival, Mubi has acquired Jafar Panahi‘s “It Was Just an Accident” for multiple international territories.

The expanding indie streamer, distributor, and producer has taken the latest film by the revered Iranian auteur for Latin America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Turkey and India.

The deal was negotiated between Mubi and MK2 Films, who are handling international sales.

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The movie’s premiere in competition at Cannes marked the Iranian auteur’s big comeback to the festival after being released from prison and seven years after “Three Faces.” It was greeted with a long standing ovation.

After the roaring applause died down, Panahi made an emotional speech in which he paid homage to the filmmakers who are currently imprisoned in Iran, saying he felt some guilt upon being released from prison. “I turned around and saw a very high wall. And behind this wall, all these other loved ones, all these people remained behind this wall,” he said. “So I wondered how I could be happy, how I could feel free, if they were still inside.”

“It Was Just an Accident” centers around an outpouring of strong feelings by a group of former prisoners toward a torturous guard. 

“When you spend eight hours a day blindfolded, seated in front of a wall, being interrogated by someone standing behind your back every day, you can’t stop wondering what kind of conversation you can have with this man,” Panahi told Variety in one of his first interviews following his 14-year ban on making movies, speaking to the press and traveling.

“Arrested multiple times for so-called propaganda and locked up on two occasions (released only after he went on hunger strike), Panahi can’t help making art, emerging fired up and ready to fight back” Variety critic Peter Debruge noted in his positive review.

Panahi is is considered one of his country’s greatest living film masters.

In 2010, the auteur — known globally for prizewinning works such as “The Circle,” “Offside,” “This is Not a Film,” “Taxi” and most recently “No Bears” — was banned from making movies, speaking to the press and traveling, though he surreptitiously kept making them anyway. The ban was lifted in April 2023, and now Iranian authorities allowed him to travel to Cannes to launch “It Was Just an Accident.”