Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi makes his first appearance at an international film festival in 15 years at Cannes on Tuesday, with a story about political prisoners trying to get back at their jailers.

Panahi was banned from making films and has been repeatedly detained since 2009 over his gritty, social dramas, considered subversive by the Islamic republic’s regime.

His new film, “It Was Just An Accident” — which is in the running for Cannes’s top prize — uses humour to point out injustice.

Critics clapped at the end — a rare occurrence in press screenings.

The director said his own time in prison helped colour the wry tale.

Panahi, 64, told Screen magazine: “One of the characteristics of the Iranian people is their humour. This regime has been trying for over four decades now to impose on Iranians tragedy, tears and suffering but the Iranians always come up with humour and jokes.”

The acclaimed director has repeatedly skirted the ban on him by shooting in secret, including 2022’s “No Bears”, which screened at the Venice film festival and won a special jury prize there while he was in jail.

“Although I am not banned any more, it didn’t really change my actual situation. I still had to work illegally,” he told Screen.

A source close to the filmmaker, who asked not to be named, said Panahi’s latest film had been shot in secret and had no government funding.

Cannes has a long history of supporting independent Iranian filmmakers, who often face legal problems and intimidation from Iranian authorities.