This clandestine documentary, shot on an iPhone and a modest DV camera and smuggled into France in a cake for last-minute submission to Cannes, depicts the day-to-day life of acclaimed director Jafar Panahi (Offside, The Circle, The White Balloon) under house arrest in his Tehran apartment. While appealing his sentence – six years in prison and a 20 year ban from filmmaking for alleged crimes against national security – Panahi is seen talking to his family and lawyer on the phone, discussing his plight with his close friend filmmaker Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and reflecting on the meaning of the art of filmmaking. This Is Not a Film is a compelling personal document, a quietly passionate statement of artistic intent, and an uncompromising testament to Panahi's belief in cinema.