GFT, February 17, 2pm; February 18, 11.15am
In 2010, acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison and banned from making films for 20 years. Prior to that he was placed under house arrest. During this time, he and collaborator Mojtaba Mirtahmasb made This Is Not A Film – a documentary about Panahi not working, shot in the provocative style that got him banned from doing it in the first place. It was smuggled to Cannes on a flash-drive hidden in a cake and screened at last year's festival. Now it's in Scotland. Panahi is an engaging presence at the film's heart. Clearly able to see the black comedy in his predicament he speaks to his lawyer, listens to messages from his wife, then acts out a banned screenplay about a girl kept prisoner in a house. Later he watches his old films, goes walkabout in his apartment and, as his daughter's huge pet lizard stalks the carpet, muses on art, honesty and truth. His film reminds us how much those things matter.
