Oscar-nominated screenwriter released from Iran prison on bail

Mehdi Mahmoudian, co-writer of the Palme d'Or-winning film "It Was Just an Accident," was released from prison in Iran on Tuesday after 17 days behind bars, according to multiple reports. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter was freed on bail alongside two other activists who were arrested with him for signing a statement condemning Iran's violent suppression of protesters.hollywoodreporter+3

Mahmoudian and fellow signatories Vida Rabbani and Abdollah Momeni each posted bail of 6.5 billion tomans—approximately $10,000—through their legal counsel at the Revolutionary Court. Their release comes less than a month before the Academy Awards ceremony on March 15, where "It Was Just an Accident" is nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.deadline+5

Arrest Following Statement Against Regime

The three activists were arrested on January 31, days after signing what became known as "The Statement of the Seventeen," an open letter published on January 28 that directly criticized Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The statement condemned the killings of protesters during demonstrations that swept Iran in early January, calling the violence "an organized state crime against humanity".wikipedia+5

The crackdown on protests, which began in late December 2025 over economic grievances, escalated dramatically in January 2026. According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 6,126 people were killed during the government's suppression of the demonstrations, though some estimates place the toll significantly higher. The Iranian government imposed a near-total internet blackout during the crackdown, limiting information flow from inside the country.npr+1

A Film Born From Prison Experience

"It Was Just an Accident" draws directly from director Jafar Panahi's own experiences of imprisonment and surveillance in Iran. Panahi met Mahmoudian while both were incarcerated, and later invited him to contribute to the screenplay because of his nine years of prison experience and extensive human rights work. The film, which was made secretly inside Iran, won the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.deadline+3

Panahi, who also signed the statement condemning the regime, called Mahmoudian "a rare moral presence" whose "absence is immediately felt, both inside prison walls and beyond them". The director himself was sentenced in December to one year in prison and a two-year travel ban for "propaganda activities against the system," but has been traveling internationally with the film.radioroyal+2