This is not a film

Compelling document about a day in the life of isolated Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. He made this documentary in the spring of 2011 after having been banned for making films by the authorities for a period of twenty years. Panahi had the film which is not a film smuggled out of the country on an USB stick hidden in a cake so that it could be screened at Cannes.

“Now how can I really express myself inside that boundary with the lines I drew? How can I tell the sense and feeling in this kind of film? Not possible”. Words spoken by the internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (The Circle, The White Balloon) as he watches in frustration scenes from his earlier work, while trying to map out his new film on his living-room rug. He”s looking after his daughter”s iguana, answers the door to collect the meal that was ordered and passes the rubbish that needs to be thrown out. He follows the news and observes from his balcony the world in which he”s not allowed a proper place. This Is Not a Film shows a day in the life of the isolated filmmaker and is dedicated to all Iranian filmmakers who are boycotted by the regime.

In 2010 Jafar Panahi was arrested together with his wife, his daughter and some 15 other dissidents. The oppressive Iranian regime has already driven a number of internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmakers out of the country, including Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Bahman Ghobadi. (Source: Movies That Matter)