Review of This Is Not a Film (2011) by Emmanuel B — 05 May 2013

A late addition to the Cannes film festival 2011 programme after being smuggled into France hidden inside a of cake, Iranian director Jafar Panahi's "This is Not a Film" (2011) is by no means your average political documentary. Like Lars von Trier's conceptual "Dogville," (2003), "This Is Not a Film" challenges our idea of what form a film can take. A 75-minute piece, shot partially on an iPhone, captures the day-to-day life of Panahi during a state-imposed house arrest in his apartment located in Tehran, as he appeals a six year prison sentence, including a 20 year filmmaking ban for his recordings of the large protests to the 2011 Iranian elections. It marks a courageous act of non-violent protest. If Panahi cannot give interviews, then he will tell his own story, beginning with a reading of the screenplay he was not allowed to film.

"This is Not a Film" presents a vital political statement and a snapshot of life in Iran as an enemy of the state. Here in the Western world, our access to information, democratic government, and human rights are taken for granted. Panahi and Mirtahmasb are putting their lives on the line to tell the stories they feel they must tell, in the hope that, one day, their nation will be able to have the same sort of pro-democratic freedom as the rest of us. Gripping entertainment. Little by little "This Is Not a Film" leads to a final scene of overwhelming power. Anyone interested in cinema and/or Iran owes it to themselves to become familiar with this "not" film.