EXCLUSIVE: Neon has released Jafar Panahi’s 2021 short film Life online, giving audiences free access to the work as a standalone piece for the first time.
The short film was originally part of the Covid-19 pandemic themed anthology work The Year of the Everlasting Stormalso featuring contributions by Anthony Chen, David Lowery, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor, Malik Vitthal and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
With wry humor and warmth, Panahi’s segment gave insight into his life at home in Tehran during the lockdown with his family, with his mother and pet iguana Iggy stealing the show.
The online release of Life will also highlight a segment from Panahi’s public conversation with Martin Scorsese during the 63rd New York Film Festival in October, where his It Was Just An Accident played in the Main Slate section.
Panahi is currently in the thick of the awards season race as a frontrunner with Cannes 2025 Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident.
The film was nominated for four Golden Globes this week including Best Film Drama, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature, as well as for Best Foreign Language Film from Critics Choice Awards.
Recent awards include a special award from AFI; Best Director from NYFCC; Best Original Screenplay from LAFCA; and Best Film and Director from Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
Additional nominations include Best Film, Director, and Screenwriter at the European Film Awards, Best International Coproduction at France’s Lumière Awards, and Best International Film at the British Independent Film Awards.
The shortlists for the 98th Academy Awards are due out on December 16, with It Was Just An Accident expected to make the cut in more than one category, including Best International Feature Film as France’s candidate.
Neon is aiming to continue its Oscar winning streak which has seen it garner 39 Academy Awards in just eight years, with 11 converting into wins, including two Best Picture victories for Sean Baker’s Anora and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite.
