Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has earned two Golden Globe nominations this year for It Was Just an Accident, a film that depicts five Iranians confronting a man they believe tortured them in jail.
The recognition comes at a complicated time for the director. This month, Iran sentenced Panahi, 65, to a year in prison and imposed a two-year travel ban, accusing him of spreading propaganda against the state, his lawyer Mostafa Nili said.
The ruling was issued in his absence as Panahi was in New York receiving three Gotham Awards for the film, which also won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May.
It Was Just an Accident was filmed in secret in Iran after the director spent seven months in prison. His sentence that ended in 2023 after a hunger strike. Panahi has not yet commented on his latest jail sentence and there was no indication of whether he planned to return to Iran.
He is among the most celebrated Iranian filmmakers and has continued making movies despite being jailed repeatedly, barred from travelling and placed under house arrest.
Panahi won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for The Circle and received the Golden Bear in Berlin for Taxi Tehran in 2015. He was awarded the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes in 2018 for Three Faces.
His Palme d'Or success for It Was Just an Accident made him one of the few filmmakers to have won the top prizes at Venice, Berlin and Cannes.
Full list of Golden Globes 2025 nominees
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Frankenstein
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Blue Moon
Bugonia
Marty Supreme
No Other Choice
Nouvelle Vague
One Battle After Another
Best Motion Picture – Animated
Arco
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle
Elio
Kpop Demon Hunters
Little Amelie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2
Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Kpop Demon Hunters
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Sinners
Weapons
Wicked: For Good
Zootopia 2
Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language
It Was Just an Accident – France
No Other Choice – South Korea
The Secret Agent – Brazil
Sentimental Value – Norway
Sirat – Spain
The Voice of Hind Rajab – Tunisia
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
Julia Roberts – After the Hunt
Tessa Thompson – Hedda
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
Oscar Isaac – Frankenstein
Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine
Michael B Jordan – Sinners
Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent
Jeremy Allen White – Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good
Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone – Bugonia
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme
George Clooney – Jay Kelly
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Lee Byung-hun – No Other Choice
Jesse Plemons – Bugonia
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
Emily Blunt – The Smashing Machine
Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Paul Mescal – Hamnet
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value
Best Director – Motion Picture
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat – Frankenstein
Ludwig Göransson – Sinners
Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another
Kangding Ray – Sirāt
Max Richter – HamnetHans Zimmer – F1
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
Dream as One – Avatar: Fire and Ash
Music and lyrics by Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen
Golden – Kpop Demon Hunters
Music by Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong JunLyrics by Kim Eun-jae (EJAE), Mark Sonnenblick
I Lied to You”– Sinners
Music and lyrics by Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson
No Place Like Home – Wicked: For Good
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
The Girl in the Bubble – Wicked: For Good
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Train Dreams – Train Dreams
Music by Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner
Lyrics by Nick Cave
Best Television Series – Drama
The Diplomat
The Pitt
Pluribus
Severance
Slow Horses
The White Lotus
Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Hacks
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building
The Studio
Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Adolescence
All Her Fault
The Beast in Me
Black Mirror
Dying for Sex
The Girlfriend
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Kathy Bates – Matlock
Britt Lower – Severance
Helen Mirren – Mobland
Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us
Keri Russell – The Diplomat
Rhea Seehorn – Pluribus
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Sterling K Brown – Paradise
Diego Luna – Andor
Gary Oldman – Slow Horses
Mark Ruffalo – Task
Adam Scott – Severance
Noah Wyle – The Pitt
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Kristen Bell – Nobody Wants This
Ayo Edebiri – The Bear
Selena Gomez – Only Murders in the Building
Natasha Lyonne – Poker Face
Jenna Ortega – Wednesday
Jean Smart – Hacks
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Adam Brody – Nobody Wants This
Steve Martin – Only Murders in the Building
Glen Powell – Chad PowersSeth Rogen – The Studio
Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Claire Danes – The Beast in Me
Rashida Jones – Black Mirror
Amanda Seyfried – Long Bright River
Sarah Snook – All Her Fault
Michelle Williams – Dying for Sex
Robin Wright – The Girlfriend
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jacob Elordi – The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Paul Giamatti – Black Mirror
Stephen Graham – Adolescence
Charlie Hunnam – Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Jude Law – Black Rabbit
Matthew Rhys – The Beast in Me
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role on Television
Carrie Coon – The White Lotus
Erin Doherty – Adolescence
Hannah Einbinder – Hacks
Catherine O’Hara – The Studio
Parker Posey – The White Lotus
Aimee Lou Wood – The White Lotus
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television
Owen Cooper – Adolescence
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show
Walton Goggins – The White Lotus
Jason Isaacs – The White Lotus
Tramell Tillman – Severance
Ashley Walters – Adolescence
Best Performance in Stand-up Comedy on Television
Bill Maher – Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?
Brett Goldstein – Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life
Kevin Hart – Kevin Hart: Acting My Age
Kumail Nanjiani – Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts
Ricky Gervais – Ricky Gervais: Mortality
Sarah Silverman – Sarah Silverman: Postmortem
Best Podcast
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Call Her Daddy
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Smartless
Up First
