In the shadow of international recognition and the journey toward the Oscars, the case of the film “A Simple Accident” takes on dramatic dimensions outside the movie theater. In Iran, screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian was arrested just as the political thriller he worked on finds itself at the center of global attention. The arrest, according to a report by news outlet Emtedad, comes amid a climate of heightened repression and tension, as the film deals with imprisonment experiences and the violence of the Iranian state. The fact that the case is chronologically linked to international awards and public political interventions intensifies questions about the authorities’ real motives.
“A Simple Accident” and the screenwriter’s arrest
Mehdi Mahmoudian was arrested while in Iran, with charges against him remaining unknown, according to his lawyer. He managed to communicate with his family after the arrest. A likely cause is considered to be a letter he co-signed with other public figures, condemning the bloody suppression of demonstrations in early January. In his statement, he had noted that “violence, when left unanswered, becomes normalized and spreads.”
Panahi, international recognition of the screenwriter and political pressure
The film’s director, Jafar Panahi, has repeatedly spoken out about the situation in Iran. In mid-January, during the opening of the European Film Awards in Berlin, he made a dramatic appeal about what is happening in his country. Panahi won the Palme d’Or at Cannes for the film “A Simple Accident,” making him a candidate for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Meanwhile, an Iranian court has sentenced him in absentia to imprisonment while he was abroad.
