Rivertown Film presents a searing Iranian film on Wednesday, January 14th – the Palm d’Or winning “It Was Just An Accident”. The movie – drawn straight from writer- director Jafar Panahi’s life – is a tragicomedy that doesn’t fit into a neat box.
Panahi has drawn from his own experience in Tehran’s Evin Prison for “propaganda against the state” and his subsequent house arrest to tell this story. Initially banned from filmmaking (though no longer), he shot the film covertly. A tale of crime and punishment, it follows Vahid, a formerly imprisoned mechanic, who grabs a man, Eghbal, off a busy street because the sound Eghbal makes when he walks sounds just like the guard who had tortured Vahid in jail. Vahid hits him with a shovel and starts to bury Eghbal alive. From there, the film turns absurdly funny as Eghbal insists he isn’t the guard. Soon Vahid and Eghbal set off in Vahid’s van to track down other ex-prisoners that Vahid hopes can identify Eghbal as said guard. Vahid finds two other former prisoners, and they join he and Eghbal in the van, driving to nowhere in particular. During their bizarre drive, they all bicker, bond and share grim prison stories. Director Panahi allows his characters to speak their minds, voice their rage, and raise questions about the way that a tyrannical rule corrupts a society.
There will be a Zoom discussion with the film’s cinematographer, Amin Jafari following the screening.
Doors to the Nyack Center open at 7:30pm, and the film begins at 8pm. Tickets are $13/General Admission, $11/Students & Seniors, and $9/Rivertown Film Members More information can be found at rivertownfilm.org.
