This Is Not A Film (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #32 extract: This Is Not A Film (2011)

This Is Not A Film is a day-in-the-life documentary that follows Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker who is under house arrest and is awaiting a verdict on his court case that could potentially have him imprisoned for 6 years and banned from making films for 20 years. Unable to shoot his scripts, Panahi hangs out with his pet Iguana, attempts to recreate scenes from his most recent screenplay and pesters his friend and a passerby into being apart of his "non-film". Everything that he shot was smuggled into the Cannes film festival and got Panahi international recognition that lead to filmmakers across the world protesting his persecution.

This Is Not A Film, whilst it is, on one level, just a whimsical and pleasant video diary, is a subdued, yet powerful statement on art and freedom that, without any direct words, says much about the Iranian political climate. Highly recommended.