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Typically if an international movie makes it into the best film awards nominations list as well the ones specifically for best international film then that second category at least is sown up. Now, it should be noted that we are only going by the Golden Globes here, as the Oscar noms are not announced until 17th January, but this year, despite recognition in both boxes, Iran’s It Was Just An Accident is not such a shoe in. On this occasion Jafar Panahi’s film is just one of three movies not entirely in the English language to get the nod for Best Motion Picture – Drama, alongside Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent, and furthermore Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice is up for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. I still think It Was Just An Accident has the best chance though as it already has the Palme d’Or in its pocket, which certainly didn’t do Anora any harm last year, or indeed Parasite in 2019.

I have to say that I hope that this is a new trend on the part of The Globes, it might actually make them relevant, and I hope The Academy is able to look as far beyond US borders in the same way.

It Was Just An Accident is actually an Iranian and French collaboration as Iran does not issue passes for movies to be made that show the government in a poor light and any elements made in the Middle Eastern country were done in guerrilla fashion. All the post production was done in Europe. The plot of this movie follows a man who runs over a dog and has to stop for repairs, where he is identified and subsequently seized by someone who believes he is the official who tortured him while he was a political prisoner. 

This might sound familiar to fans of the play and film of Death and the Maiden but actually despite not shying away from the horror of the way people have been treated when arrested and held by this regime, it is nowhere near as intense. It wouldn’t have been odd to see this turn up in the Musical or Comedy selection itself (especially since previous nominations have shown you don’t need to be either a musical or a comedy for this). In places It Was Just An Accident is genuinely funny, albeit darkly so, as kidnapper Vahid bumbles around trying to find friends and acquaintances who might be able to verify the identity of the man so that he can be sure he is exacting his revenge justly. Of course each new person has their own grievance and shows real anger as they incompetently go about their crime. The handling of the tone is actually brilliant, mixing the silly with the serious and always paying respect to both like it’s The Three Stooges Outside Ebbing, Missouri. 

When you watch a movie like this you always try to predict where it is going to go and the denouement is entirely satisfying too. There is some ambiguity to the very final moment which only goes to highlight how for people who have undergone such sadistic mistreatment, there is no real end or escape. 

Whatever else this film finally wins, there is victory in how it highlights the reality for a lot of Iranian and Azerbaijani citizens and I am glad, in a time where prejudice and oppression is finding a foothold in every culture, the rest of the world seems to be watching.