Jafar Panahi’s political thriller It Was Just an Accident was a bit of a surprise Palme d’Or victor at Cannes over Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value. However, its writer/director is no stranger to festival love. His 2000 work The Circle took top prize at Venice while 2015’s Taxi won highest honors in Berlin.

With a cast led by Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, and Hadis Pakbaten, Accident is a co-production between Panahi’s native Iran, France, and Luxembourg. Panahi has drawn headlines in recent years due to conflicts with the Iranian government including arrests. While his works are banned in his homeland, his filmography has drawn acclaim everywhere else and this is no exception. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 100% with Metacritic at 88.

Either France or Luxembourg could submit Accident as their pick for International Feature Film at the Oscars. If the former doesn’t, the latter almost certainly would. The French have seen lots of their selections win or be nominated. Luxembourg would be vying for its first ever nominee. I also wouldn’t discount Panahi contending in Director and Original Screenplay. If a combination of those nods occurred, Best Picture is not off the table. After all, four of the last five Palme recipients have made final cut in the biggest category of them all. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…