This Is Not A Film is extremely difficult to review. Be too cryptic and nobody in the world will have any idea what you are talking about, but don’t be cryptic enough and you could land a couple of people in trouble with the Iranian Government. So, what you are left with is a fine ‘effort’ that must be seen by anyone that hates injustice.
Iranian film director Jafar Panahi is well known for films such as Crimson Gold and The White Balloon. In March 2010 he spoke out against a rigged Iranian election and as a result finds himself under house arrest, is banned from writing screenplays or making films for 20 years and also has a 6 year jail sentence hanging over his head. Together with director, Mojtaba Mirtahasb (Lady Of The Roses) he decides to document what a typical day is like while under house arrest.
It’s not so much what Panahi does in this docco that makes it a good watch; it’s what he doesn’t do. Panahi reveals how ridiculous his situation is by ‘not’ making his new film, but instead telling the audience what he wanted to make. It makes you realise that if he can speak about it and act it out then why the hell can’t he actually make it. Panahi also shows just how hard it is for anyone who is into the Arts in Iran by interviewing his ‘trash-man’, a man who is studying Art but has no idea what he will do with his degree when he has finished at uni.
While many will argue that nothing major happens in This Is Not A Film this is in fact an important docco that reveals more about modern Iran than you are ever likely to see on a news report.
Year: 2011
Director: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi
Stars: Jafar Panahi
Classification: G
Runtime: 75 mins
Rating: 
Out on DVD/Blu-Ray 18th April 2012