Jafar Panahi, a filmmaker with a fascinating life arc, wins big at Cannes

It would have been great to report upon a Palme d'Or winner with some pre-existing cultural cache to it. Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, and Richard Linklater all had films in competition. Lynne Ramsay's "Die, My Love" is getting Jennifer Lawrence some early Oscar buzz already. There was a lot of good vibes around "Sentimental Value," Joachim Trier's followup to "The Worst Person in the World," a film that did break through in America. His new movie has Elle Fanning and the so-hot-right-now Stellan Skarsgard in it. "Sentimental Value" did end up with the festival's equivalent of the silver medal.

The winner, though, was Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident." It's a wild story, because Panahi is an Iranian filmmaker who despises the Iranian government and the government finds the feeling quite mutual. Few filmmakers have writeups for new movies that include the phrase "First film since being released from an Iranian prison." His Wikipedia filmography includes the note "Made illegally" on multiple movies. The Palme d'Or win is going to get "It Was Just an Accident" way more attention.

However, the win does also have a feeling of "Huh. I totally get it, but...huh" to it. This year's Cannes feels self-contained now in a way. "It Was Just an Accident" isn't going to win Best Picture. There's a decent chance it doesn't even get nominated. Yes, the modern Academy has more room for International Film, but even in that sense, "Sentimental Value," and Brazilian film "The Secret Agent" still feel like they have a leg up. 

Obviously, Panahi isn't in it for the awards. You don't go to prison defying a country's government to give a speech in front of Conan O'Brien someday. Big picture-ifying Cannes, though, requires assessing the festival's output, largely in terms of viability for American audiences, and for award voting. In that sense, "It Was Just an Accident" doesn't generate intrigue, or move pieces around on the Oscar-speculation evidence board. It will just settle for having to be a filmmaking feat and a profound political statement.