Should you watch This Is Not a Film?
Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.
This Is Not a Film
Documentary · 2011
Renowned Iranian director Jafar Panahi received a 6-year prison sentence and a 20-year ban from filmmaking and conducting interviews with foreign press due to his open support for the opposition party in Iran's 2009 election. In this film, which was shot secretly by Panahi's close friend Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and smuggled into France on a USB stick concealed inside a cake for a last-minute submission to Cannes, Panahi documents his daily life under house arrest as he awaits a decision on his appeal.
The sides of This Is Not a Film
- A director banned from making films
- An apartment in Tehran under house arrest
- A film smuggled out inside a cake
This Is Not a Film is good for you if…
- you want to see a ban on filmmaking from the inside.
- you care about Jafar Panahi defying a state that silenced him.
- you like a quiet day at home, phone calls and a pet iguana.
This Is Not a Film is bad for you if…
- you won't read subtitles in Persian.
- you need clear answers, and this film leaves you unsure what is staged and how Panahi's appeal ends.
About: censorship · freedom · creation
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