THIS IS NOT A FILM

“Take away his pen, and a writer will still find a way to write, but ban an Iranian filmmaker from making films, and what does he do?” This Is Not a Film is about courageous Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s unbridled and unrelenting passion for storytelling as he faces imprisonment and a 20 year ban on writing and directing films. At once surreal and inescapably real, Panahi’s frustrations reverberate off the walls inside his large Tehran apartment where he resides under house arrest awaiting a court decision. His co-director Mojtaba Mirtahmasb films Panahi on a digital camera over the course of a day as he attempts to enact parts of a script he has not been allowed to film. Panahi’s presence is palpable, compelling and highly entertaining and this daring work leaves you with a real sense of the dire socio-political situation confronting artists in Iran. (RH) ****