This Is Not a Film

Released Mar 2, 2012

1h 15m

Documentary

List

97%

Tomatometer

103 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi makes a video diary with his phone in response to his government's threats against him.

Critics Consensus

Through simple means and filming, This is Not a Film presents a vital political statement and a snapshot of life in Iran as enemy of the state.

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Amy Taubin

Film Comment Magazine

The result is a great modernist (i.e. reflexive) movie and a portrait of an artist, creatively and without any self-pity, looking for a way to preserve his freedom simply to represent the world as he sees it.

Aug 27, 2019

Full Review

Amy Taubin

Sight & Sound

Gave the Cannes festival - and moviemaking itself - an incontestable reason for being.

Jul 10, 2018

Full Review

Steve Erickson

indieWire

Melancholy as it is, This Is Not A Film is no pity party. It evokes ennui and anxiety without ever being boring itself.

Feb 22, 2018

Full Review

Tamma Moksha

The Hindu

This Is Not a Film is not a film; it is something bigger — a searing critique of the Iranian regime through a camera lens stuck in the house of a prisoner.

Jun 10, 2024

Full Review

Diego Batlle

Otroscines.com

A small masterpiece... [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 10/10

Sep 7, 2022

Full Review

Dustin Chang

ScreenAnarchy

This is Not a Film shows that despite the precarious situation- facing censorship and imprisonment, nothing can contain an artist from creating. The result is an intimate and self-reflexive film that transcends it being a mere political statement.

Feb 28, 2021

Full Review

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Audience Member

Under house arrest, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi creates a powerful humanist manifesto against censorship and lack of freedom of speech in his country. Full review on filmotrope. com

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

this is not a GOOD film.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Mostly dull, but has a fascinating undercurrent of artistic rebellion. This guy just can't seem to help himself, his compulsion to film "something" even to a point of possible self incrimination against ridiculous censorship is in a way a silent scream of protest. It sort of reminds me of Mozart's plea in Amadeus to Joseph to let him just write his play, and for the emperor to take out the notes he doesn't like, he just needs to work.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A sad and enraging, but intriguing and interesting documentary that takes the audience through a day in the life of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was put under house arrest by the Iranian government.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

very sad state of affairs for this fillmmaker

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As engrossing, suspenseful, and poignant as 75 minutes in a guy's apartment can possibly be.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

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Jafar Panahi

Director

Mojtaba Mirtahmasb

Director

Jafar Panahi

Actor

Mojtaba Mirtahmasb

Actor

Jafar Panahi

Writer

Jafar Panahi

Producer

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Synopsis

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi makes a video diary with his phone in response to his government's threats against him.

Director: Jafar Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Producer: Jafar Panahi
Screenwriter: Jafar Panahi
Distributor: Palisades Tartan
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Persian
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 2, 2012, Limited
Release Date (DVD): Feb 26, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $75.5K
Runtime: 1h 15m