Made during his scandalous house arrest by the Iranian government, Panahi's heroic latest film contains its stark and powerful political statement in a tender and melancholy portrait of an artist imprisoned in his own home. Filmed entirely within Panahi's apartment, This is Not a Film resembles a diary film – capturing the daily rhythms and seemingly spontaneous musings of Panahi as he speaks on the telephone, receives occasional visitors and looks back at his own films. Yet by constantly handing the camera over to friends – so as not to technically break his punishment of not being allowed to film – Panahi’s film moves constantly away from the director as subject to embrace the tumultuous world always suggested outside and suddenly revealed in the single chilling shot that closes the film.