
I met with Jafar Panahi, 65, at the Reign restaurant in Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York hotel. Sheida Dayani, a theater historian and professor, was there to translate for him during his press tour for his new film, *It Was Just an Accident*. The film was secretly shot over 25 days in Tehran, and he’s become quite skilled at working discreetly. He arrived dressed in his typical style: dark sunglasses, a black polo shirt, and an army-green jacket, with a faint smell of cigarettes – he smokes about three packs a day. His voice is deep and resonant. He wasn’t feeling his best and was drinking hot water with honey instead of his usual Persian remedy, rock candy. We met just hours before the film’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, which was the sixth stop on a world tour that began at Cannes in late May, where *It Was Just an Accident* won the Palme d’Or. This award put him in an exclusive group of filmmakers – only three others, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Robert Altman – have won the top prize at Cannes, Venice, and Berlin.