Iranian director Jafar Panahi had to skip the New York Film Festival premiere of “ It Was Just an Accident ” because his visa could not be processed in time for the Oct. 2 screening. In addition, the festival announced it was cancelling an Oct. 3 conversation between Panahi and Martin Scorsese.

The culprit is the government shutdown, which kicked off on Sept. 30 after congressional leaders failed to reach a funding deal. “It Was Just an Accident” follows a a mechanic (Vahid Mobasseri), who believes he has run into the intelligence officer (Ebrahim Azizi) who tortured him. The film is Panahi’s first since being incarcerated for several months in 2023 for criticizing the Iranian government. He was banned from making movies for 14 years and shot his latest production in secret. “It Was

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