The latest film from acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi arrives in UK cinemas today, but the story behind the film is just as important.
The Palme d’Or winning It Was Just An Accident follows a group of former Iranian political prisoners who face the question of whether to exact revenge on a man they believe may be their tormentor.
The film was shot and edited in secret in Iran. Panahi worked with editor Amir Etminan, who travelled to Tehran from his home in Istanbul. “Being part of this project was a historic opportunity for me and a civic act in the ongoing struggle against the authoritarian regime in my country,” he tells TVBEurope.
“Jafar Panahi’s cinema goes beyond filmmaking; it is a form of resistance. In this project, cinema itself becomes a tool to fight dictatorship, and I accepted because I see freedom in my country held captive.”
Panahi shot the film with a minimal crew, with Etminan on set throughout. Once filming wrapped each day, the editor would return to his safehouse. However, unlike a traditional editing process, It Was Just An Accident was cut without the internet. “Due to the specific conditions in Iran, I did not have access to the internet because Adobe’s site is blocked there,” he explains. “I never connected my laptop to the internet; if I had, Adobe software would have stopped working. To avoid any issues, I had disconnected my laptop from the internet before travelling to Iran and did not reconnect it for about two months. My only tools for editing were my laptop, Premiere Pro, SSDs, and a television for screen editing.”
Etminan used Adobe Premiere Pro on a 2020 MacBook Air with just 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. He managed 2TB of daily RED Komodo footage by creating lightweight proxy files on ultra-fast SSD, creating backups, and generating proxy files. “Once proxies were ready, I synchronised sound and image, reviewed takes, and began editing.”
The director and editor collaborated closely both on set and off, with Panahi travelling to Etminan’s safehouse to continue the day’s work. “I would first prepare a rough cut, and Jafar would review it. If the edit met his approval, it would proceed; if not, we would review other takes together and, if necessary, adjust the shots. Overall, the editing process was dialogue-driven, with decisions made collaboratively.”
This process continued for a month after filming ended. Once Etminan returned to Istanbul and the files were transferred to France, the pair worked together on any adjustments, with the editor creating an XML project that was sent to the team in France so it could be applied and replaced in the main cut.
As well as the security issues of filming in Iran, Etminan faced other challenges while working on the project. He had no assistant editor and had to handle DIT, syncing sound and picture, proxy creation, and initial editing by himself. “Jafar’s extreme attention to detail presented another challenge,” he adds. “After each day’s shoot, if anything did not meet his approval or caused him concern, we had to reshoot the scene. Although this rarely happened, he meticulously reviewed all takes and events, making adjustments whenever necessary. The simultaneous shooting and editing process, combined with the need to make quick decisions, made the work even more challenging, and every stage of shooting and editing required heightened focus and precision.”
Etminan hopes the audience gains a deeper understanding of the social and political conditions in Iran after watching It Was Just An Accident, and appreciates the importance of courage, resistance, and morality in confronting authoritarianism. “I also want the film to demonstrate that cinema can serve as a powerful tool to express truth and the strength of human beings in the face of oppression, even under conditions of limited freedom.
“For me, the final scene of the film is my favourite. It provides a powerful and moving conclusion that captivates the audience completely. After all the challenges and difficulties throughout the film, this ending serves as a symbol of the triumph of morality over authoritarianism and effectively conveys the film’s message.”
It Was Just An Accident is in UK cinemas now.
