Hull Independent Cinema – It Was Just An Accident

​​​​Hull Independent Cinema presents… It Was Just An Accident

Dir Jafar Panahi | Iran, France, Luxembourg, USA | 2025 | 103 mins | Rated 12A | Persian

After a minor accident, Eghbal takes his car to a nearby garage, where former political prisoner Vahid hears the distinctive sound of Eghbal’s prosthetic leg and believes him to be ‘Peg-Leg’, a notorious torturer from Vahid’s past. With a group of fellow ex-prisoners, Vahid kidnaps Eghbal and they embark on a tense journey into the desert in an attempt to verify if he really is their former tormentor. As suspicion, guilt, and conflicting memories swirl, the group grapples with a wrenching moral question: should they avenge the horrors of the past, or risk repeating them?

Starring Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi

Watch the trailer on Youtube

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Cannes; Winner, Palme d'Or

Montclair FF: Winner, World Cinema Audience Award

Sydney FF: Winner, Best Film

Gotham Awards: Nominee, Best Int'l Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Director

European Film Awards: Nominee, Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay

REVIEWS

"Plays like an ideal melding of the filmmaker Panahi was and the filmmaker he’s been forced to become. It’s an endlessly fascinating and extraordinarily powerful work." Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

"It is just so intelligent; so blisteringly powerful; so light of touch. It is also one of those rare movies that manages to mix an unlikely trinity of shaggy-dog comedy, revenge thriller and seriously heavy political shit." ★★★★★ Nick Howells, London Standard

"It’s another very impressive serio-comic film from one of the most distinctive and courageous figures in world cinema." ★★★★ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

"Cinema still has its uses, and Panahi summons all the medium’s expressive powers to deliver a fierce, unambiguous denunciation of authoritarian regimes the world over." Justin Chang, The New Yorker "

ACCESSIBILITY

Subtitles

This film will be presented with Descriptive Subtitles. In addition to reproducing dialogue, these subtitles include additional non-dialogue sounds available to a hearing audience, e.g. "(sighs)" or "(door creaks)" and song lyrics. In our experience, guests do not find the subtitles distracting, especially as the majority of our films are subtitled foreign language films. Hull Independent Cinema is working towards making our films more accessible. We have decided to present all our films with Descriptive Subtitles where available.

AGE RATING

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT is rated 12A. Under 12s must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, please see the film's page on the BBFC website.

Programme Details

The café will be open before the show, so why not come along early to grab a drink and a snack?

The programme run time includes an allowance for introductions and up to three trailers. While we will endeavour to accommodate latecomers, this may not always be possible. Please note that we reserve the right to refuse entry, without a refund, to anyone arriving after the advertised start time.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or suggestions, please drop us a line at hello@hullindependentcinema.com or on social media.