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Following the end of the Cannes Film Festival by less than 48 hours, award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi's reported release (on bail) from the Iranian prison where he had been imprisoned for over two months as an opponent of the regime, attests to the world spotlight that the annual festival can command and the publicity it can martial. Panahi had been invited to serve on this year's jury at Cannes; his empty seat was symbolic throughout the 10-day festival and his name was invoked repeatedly during Sunday's closing ceremonies. With his new film Certified Copy in competition, Panahi's fellow director and former mentor Abbas Kiarostami had used his press conference to call for his colleague to be set free, and there were persistent rumors the Iranian authorities were, in fact, poised to do just that. Panahi, whose films include The White Balloon, The Circle, and, Offside, was the international film world's most celebrated political prisoner in the 40 years since the Soviets jailed Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov. Although freeing Panahi shows that the Iranian regime does have concern for its image abroad, it should not be forgotten that thousands remain imprisoned in this brutal theocracy.