This Is Not A Film [In Film Nist] (Panahi & Mirtahmasb, 2011)

[shariqq]

This Is Not A Film (In Film Nist)
Jafar Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb | Iran | 2011
75 min

Iranian director Jafar Panahi was arrested some time back. When released on bail, he was barred from writing or directing films. What does a supremely talented and creative director do? He makes This Is Not A Film. Smuggled out of Iran on a USB flash-drive hidden inside a cake, the movie got a special at Cannes, and now at DIFF. With the cinema house-full, and the audience reaction to the movie, it is no surprise that Panahi has made another ground-breaking movie. This Is Not A Film is a documentary shot in Panahi's apartment focused on the man himself. Many a times talking directly to the audience, and some just capturing the conversations of the moment, the movie depicts the director's plight, and through it, becomes a subtle jab at the state of Iran. This Is Not A Film is a must watch for anybody who loves cinema and/or believes in the freedom of expression. For those unaware, it would do good to be aware of the background of the director first.

My Rating --> 5 of 5

[fizz]

This Is Not a Film is both an honest title and an apt description of what directors Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb come up with when filming Panahi during a day at his residence following his 6 year prison sentence and a 20 year ban on filmmaking and travelling imposed by the Iranian government. A documentary about nothingness, it resonates in a way that very films have this year and leaves you marveling at the determination and insight of its makers.

Set entirely within Panahi’s home while his family is away, we see him making calls to his lawyer to ascertain the outcome of his appeal, feeding his daughter’s pet Iguana and being followed around with a recording camera by his friend and documentarian Mojtaba Mirtahmasb. They have no strict agenda in mind and are not sure how the footage they are shooting will be used, but continue to shoot anyway. Panahi shifts the discussion to a script he was working on before he was slapped with the ban and tells us, in vivid detail, about the opening shot he had in mind. This leads to an enlightening sequence that goes into the mind of how a director thinks and this segment, one of many recurring ones, becomes a fascinating insight into the thought processes behind the gifted man.

Panahi is on screen for nearly the entire duration of This Is Not a Film, but it’s during the last twenty minutes, when he starts shooting himself, first with his iPhone and then using Mirtahmasb’s camera, following his departure for the evening, that the film really blurs the line between subject, artist, film, documentary, manipulation and message. The agenda gradually becomes clear – in the absence of any formal structure, plot or idea Panahi is documenting his own process of coming to terms with his situation, a sort of residential exile, but also using the opportunity to tease the government imposed limitation on filming. Does making a short home video using a mobile camera count as shooting a film? If he cannot direct, can he at least act? Using scenes from his own films, Panahi talks about his feeling and his frustration, but is never less than self deprecating, his wit clearly overcoming any other emotion. This becomes especially evident during the closing moments when he shifts to filming a self-important garbage collector in the film’s most unforgettable segment that ends the film on as perfectly timed a note as any you are likely to see this year. This Is Not a Film is loose, unconventional, spontaneous, but most of all, powerful and optimistic in a way very few films ever are.

Rating: 5/5

[X.]

Fucking-fan-tastic! Stoked to see THIS IS NOT A FILM now. Phenomenal reviews, guys. Cheers.

So they smuggled the film on a flash drive hidden inside a cake? Ha ha...ingenious! They should make a movie about that and call it: THIS IS NOT A CAKE! lol

More seriously, isn't co-director Mojtaba Mirtahmasb behind bars?

[madali]

I'm guessing the usb inside a cake is a lie.

[X.]

But it's a great story for the press!

[madali]

That's why I don't like Panahi. He is a western PR whore. He doesn't make movies for Iranians anymore, but for standing ovation at Cannes.

His USB in a cake makes no sense.

[fizz]

That's why I don't like Panahi. He is a western PR whore. He doesn't make movies for Iranians anymore, but for standing ovation at Cannes.

Wait, did he tell you all of this in person?

[madali]

We only can arrive at conclusions if someone tells it to us?