This Is Not A Film

Brave, revealing self-portrait made by Jafar Panahi while under house arrest.

The political back-story to this domestic snapshot is hard to ignore. Made by Iranian director Jafar Panahi with a friend (documentary director Mirtahmasb) while under house arrest in his apartment, having just been sentenced to six years in prison for filmmaking without a permit, it was smuggled out of Iran to its Cannes premiere on a USB stick hidden inside a cake. However, like all of Panahi’s best work (including Crimson Gold, Offside) the political is illuminated here by the everyday. In this case, the director himself brewing tea, feeding his iguana, and compulsively drawn back to cinema despite the potential cost.