This is Not a Film

Accused of collusion against the Iranian regime, appealing a prison sentence and currently banned from filmmaking, director Jafar Panahi set out to not make a film. He teamed up with documentarian Mojtaba Mirtahmasb. What emerges is a remarkable day-in-the-life chronicle shot with a digital camera and an iPhone almost entirely within the director's apartment. While phone calls, TV news and the usual family dramas interrupt, Panahi discusses his work, his unrealized scripts and his looming court battle. It's hard to put a definition to this: documentary, video essay, performance art piece? But it's poignant, courageous and somehow very vital. 75 minutes