Iran has sentenced Golden Globe nominated filmmaker Jafar Panahi to a year in prison in absentia along with a travel ban, on charges of “creating propaganda against the political system”.
READ MORE: Golden Globes 2026 nominations have been announced – check out the full list here
Paahi is the director of It Was Just An Accident, a thriller telling the story of a group of former prisoners who consider revenge on a man they believe to be their former jailer. The film won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and was recently nominated at the forthcoming Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Foreign Language Film. The film was shot in Iran without a permit from the government.
Last week (December 1), Panahi’s lawyer Mostafa Nili told Agence France-Presse (via The Guardian) that in addition to prison time and two-year travel ban, the sentence included a ban from any political or social groups. Nili added that they plan to appeal the judgement, and that Panahi is currently out of the country promoting his new film.
Panahi has served two previous prison sentences in Iran – serving two months of a six-year sentence in 2010, and seven months in 2022, both due to the political nature of his films.
The nominations for the 2026 Golden Globes were announced on Monday (December 8), with Paul Thomas Anderson’s Once Battle After Another leading the way with nods in nine categories, including Best Picture. Drama Sentimental Value came close behind with eight nominations, while hit horror Sinners is competing in seven categories.
On social media, fans reacted to Sydney Sweeney missing out on an acting nomination for the boxing drama Christy, with onlookers pointing to the film’s poor box office performance and the star’s controversial jeans ad as possible reasons for her being “snubbed”.
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