Independents That Defied Box Office Expectations: The 7 Most Striking Festival Films of 2024 & 2025

While Hollywood’s blockbusters continue to dominate cinema screens, festivals like Venice, Sundance, and Cannes prove every year the power of independent cinema, its innovative language, and artistic depth. 2024 and 2025 witnessed the triumph of independent films that bear the marks of pure cinematic passion, far from box office concerns, with rule-breaking narratives and perfect scores from critics.

Here are those 7 festival films bearing the signatures of visionary directors that broke mainstream molds and entered the ranks of the year’s most talked-about.

1-It Was Just an Accident (Cannes 2025 – Palme d’Or)
Director: Jafar Panahi

 Why Striking?

Legendary dissident director of Iranian cinema Jafar Panahi returned from Cannes, which he attended for the first time after his travel ban was lifted, with the festival’s most prestigious award, the Palme d’Or. The film expresses political rebellion against authoritarian regimes with the sharpness of dark humor. This autobiographical and political drama, bearing traces of Panahi’s own life, once again proved that he is not only a symbol of freedom of expression in Iran but around the world. With this award, Panahi became one of the rare directors to win the top prizes at the “Big Three” by conquering Cannes after Berlin and Venice.

 2-Sentimental Value (Cannes 2025 – Grand Prix)
Director: Joachim Trier

 Why Striking?

Norwegian master director Joachim Trier reunited screenwriter Eskil Vogt and the star of The Worst Person in the World, Renate Reinsve. The Grand Prix-winning film handles themes of inheritance, family, and intergenerational conflict with an intimate and touching psychological drama language. Trier’s characteristic melancholic and intelligent sense of humor made the film one of the festival’s most emotionally impactful productions.

 3-The Secret Agent (Cannes 2025 – Best Director & Best Actor)
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Why Striking?

Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho embraced the Best Director award with his political thriller. Set in 1970s Brazil, the film masterfully combines a secret agent’s story from the military dictatorship era with cinematic language and thriller elements. The performance of lead actor Wagner Moura (known from Narcos) was also deemed worthy of the Best Actor award, proving independent cinema’s political courage and commitment to strong acting.

4-Anora (Cannes 2024 – Palme d’Or)
Director: Sean Baker

Why Striking?

One of 2024’s biggest surprises, Anora focuses on characters from society’s margins, as director Sean Baker has masterfully done before. The chaotic and funny story of a stripper marrying a Russian oligarch’s son critically handles topics like class, the corruption of the American Dream, and immigration with humor. Winning the Palme d’Or, it reached an artistic peak beyond box office expectations.

5-The Things You Kill (Sundance 2025 – World Cinema Dramatic Best Director)
Director: Alireza Khatami

 Why Striking?

Iranian director Alireza Khatami won the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Best Director award with this psychological thriller shot in Turkey. The film brings universal themes like grief and guilt to the screen in a strangeness and disturbing quality unfamiliar in our cinema. The success of this Turkish-French-Polish co-production demonstrated the power of independent cinema to transcend geographical boundaries.

 6-A Real Pain (Sundance 2024 – Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award)
Director: Jesse Eisenberg

Why Striking?

This intimate film, written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, was one of the most buzzed-about independents at 2024 Sundance. It follows two cousins (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) questioning their identities and family heritage during a Holocaust-themed tour in Poland. Blending heavy themes with intelligent, absurd, and dry comedy set it apart from traditional dramas, leading to a major studio deal and theatrical release.

7-All We Imagine as Light (Cannes 2024 – Grand Prix)
Director: Payal Kapadia

Why Striking?

This production, which made history as the first Indian film to win the Cannes Grand Prix, poetically tells the daily lives, desires, and loneliness in the city of two nurses living in Mumbai. Payal Kapadia, with her minimalist, observational, and rhythmic narrative, completely separated from Bollywood’s mainstream noise, showed the power of independent and artistic cinema to the whole world.

 Apartment No:26 Note

These films emerging from the 2024 and 2025 festivals did not just win awards; from Jafar Panahi’s political rebellion to Sean Baker’s social conscience, and Alireza Khatami’s international thriller, they showed that creativity knows no bounds in every area of cinema.