Neon is hopeful that Jafar Panahi will be Stateside as early as Tuesday after an ongoing U.S. government shutdown slowed his visa causing him to miss a busy week of events led by the New York Film Festival premiere of his Cannes Palme d’Or winning film It Was Just An Accident .

The visa wasn’t ready in time to get him to that screening or to an NYFF sit-down with Martin Scorsese, a highlight of the festival’s talks’ lineup. The talk was canceled.

The fest’s Artistic Director Dennis Lim , flanked by Panahi’s French producers, introducing the premiere, called the director’s absence “an upsetting situation for many reasons.” Over the years, Panahi has been twice jailed in Iran and forbidden to film. “As threats to freedom of expression intensify here and around the world,

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