Jafar Panahi, the fifty-one-year-old Iranian film director, is a maker of nonpolitical films. Nevertheless, he has been sentenced by the Iranian authorities to six years in prison, and has been banned from directing, writing screenplays, or giving interviews for twenty years. His crimes are plain enough: he has been an outspoken critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This Is Not a Film is a fable about a man who is free in spirit—an irrepressible director who will make films in his head if he has to. The movie is also about a man without fear. It is often funny and stirring, but as you are watching you know what the game will lead to; dictatorships are not known for their sense of humor.

The entire movie is an expression of freedom, and, as you watch it, you sense it will lead to more trouble for both Panahi and his friend (and it did: Mirtahmasb was jailed for three months and is currently out on bail). David Denby, The New Yorker

The Calgary Cinematheque—in conjunction with the University of Calgary Film Society—are excited to be hosting esteemed Iranian film scholar Hamid Naficy. Professor Naficy is the Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor in Communications at Northwestern University, Illinois, and will be introducing our one-night-only screening of This is Not a Film at the Plaza.

What's more, he'll be giving a talk on campus on March 30th—time and location TBA. This talk coincides with the UofC Film Society's weekly screening of 3 Iranian films leading up to this event—one for each Friday in March. More details on these FREE screenings are available on the Facebook event page.