France Oscars Iran Jafar Panahi.

France announced Wednesday that it has selected the Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning drama “It Was Just An Accident” as its submission to the Academy Awards. The selection gives an Oscar pathway to a film that Iran was certain not to select, itself. Panahi, who has spent much of the last 15 years either under house arrest, banned from travel or incarcerated, made “It Was Just An Accident,” like his previous films, in his native Iran without government permission. “It Was Just An Accident” is Panahi’s first film since he was released from jail two years ago, following a hunger strike. It won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May.