Just as Cannes Did, Sydney Film Festival Has Awarded Its Major 2025 Prize to Jafar Panahi's 'It Was Just an Accident'
At SFF's opening night, the Iranian filmmaker was announced as one of the fest's special guests — now, at closing night, he's collected the event's top accolade.
Sometimes, life delivers the perfect script. At its 2025 edition, Sydney Film Festival has notched up that feat. Each year since 2008, the Harbour City's major annual cinema celebration has featured its own Official Competition, awarding the picture judged the most "audacious, cutting edge and courageous" the Sydney Film Prize. Fresh from winning the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident now has SFF's top accolade to its name as well.
At Sydney Film Festival's Together-led opening night, it was announced that acclaimed Iranian writer/director Panahi was one the event's special guests — and that he was already in the New South Wales capital. Given that he has been subjected to filmmaking bans, travel restrictions, arrests and imprisonment in his homeland across his career, this was no minor development. During the fest, not only did It Was Just an Accident screen, but featured retrospective Jafar Panahi: Cinema in Rebellion highlighted every single one of the filmmaker's movies. Now, at SFF's closing-night gala — with Splitsville 2025's final flick — Panahi has collected the event's major accolade, accepting it at the State Theatre in person.
It Was Just an Accident was picked as 2025's Sydney Film Prize-winner by a jury led by Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Ellis Park) as president, plus his The Narrow Road to the Deep North talent Thomas Weatherall, the latter's Heartbreak High co-star Rachel House, Hong Kong-based producer and distributor Winnie Tsang and Marrakech International Film Festival Director Melita Toscan du Plantier. If you're in the Harbour City between Tuesday, June 17–Friday, June 20 when Sydney Film Festival's 2025 Back By Popular Demand bonus screenings hit Dendy Newtown, Palace Cinemas Norton Street and Ritz Cinemas Randwick, Panahi's awarded movie is among the titles receiving encore sessions.
The filmmaker's latest picture follows a family on a road trip — and, at SFF, follows Parasite as the only two flicks to have taken home both the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Sydney Film Prize. Iranian features have now won SFF's top gong, which awards a $60,000 cash prize, a record-breaking three times. Asghar Farhadi's A Separation claimed the accolade in 2011, then Mohammad Rasoulof's There Is No Evil did the same in 2021.
Other previous winners span There's Still Tomorrow (2024), The Mother of All Lies (2023), Close (2022), The Heiresses (2018), On Body and Soul (2017), Aquarius (2016), Arabian Nights (2015), Two Days, One Night (2014), Only God Forgives (2013), Alps (2012), Heartbeats (2010), Bronson (2009) and Hunger (2008).
"It has been an honour and a privilege to watch cinema for the past ten days. To be amongst audiences who love and guard this powerful expression, are champions for experiences which are transforming and transcendent. To Nashen [Moodley, SFF's Festival Director] and the Sydney Film Festival team, thank you for inviting us to be part of what has been an enormously successful festival," said the jury in a statement.
"We want to acknowledge the powerful and assured first-time films within competition. There were many and we were astonished by their confidence, authenticity and swagger. This new wave of international filmmakers are pushing the boundaries and connecting to cinema in original ways. It is their perspective which moved us and opened our hearts to stories which felt deeply personal and true. There was a push towards testing the form, taking real risk to find new ways to challenge cinema," the jury continued.
"In these times of great conflict and uncertainty, it is more important than ever that filmmakers are given the freedom to express what they see around them. The films we watched led with empathy, compassion and kindness. The directors trusted that their stories would make us feel first, connect to a personal point of view, they were political but human first."
"The winner of the Sydney Film Festival for 2025 embodied all these qualities, a courageous film with a deep soul and a powerful sense of forgiveness. It has outstanding performances and an understated authority which is brimming with truth."
The 2025 recipients of SFF's full suite of annual prizes was also revealed at closing night, including for documentaries and shorts. Songs Inside nabbed the Documentary Australia Award, with Aussie filmmaker Shalom Almond (Prisoners and Pups) emerging victorious — and with a $20,000 cash prize — for exploring the impact of a music program on women prisoners. Fellow homegrown doco Floodland, which shines a spotlight on Lismore, scored Jordan Giusti the $40,000 Sustainable Future Award.
Canadian filmmaker Lisa Jackson (Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier) received the $35,000 First Nations Award for Wilfred Buck, about its namesake Cree educator in Northern Manitoba, while Big Bang Sound Design's Wayne Pashley and Libby Villa collected the $10,000 Sydney-UNESCO City of Film Award.
In the Dendy Short Film Awards, this year's applauded titles include Faceless for Best Live Action Short Award, and also Best Practitioner for its music and sound designer Josh Peters; Yoram Gross Animation Award-winner The Fling; and Mates, which saw Rory Pearson named as Best Director and share the Rising Talent Award for Screenwriting with co-scribe Marcus Aldred-Traynor.
Belinda Rolland © 2024
Sydney Film Festival 2025 ran from Wednesday, June 4–Sunday, June 15 at various cinemas and venues around Sydney. The fest is screening four days of encores via Sydney Film Festival's 2025 Back By Popular Demand bonus screenings at Dendy Newtown, Palace Cinemas Norton Street and Ritz Cinemas Randwick between Tuesday, June 17–Friday, June 20. For more information and tickets, head to the festival's website.
Jafar Panahi images: Tim Levy.
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