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Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Truly and defiantly extraordinary in its own quiet way. Read more
Tom Charity, CNN.com: Not a conventional film, certainly, but a powerful and important statement. Read more
A.O. Scott, New York Times: If this is not a film, it is, among other things, a statement of creative resistance in the face of tyranny and a document of intellectual freedom under political duress. Read more
David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: An extraordinary film, and one of the few in which boredom in the face of static camerawork and lack of narrative adds to the emotional wallop. Read more
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Against all odds, an unquenchable artist has made yet another piece of powerful art. Read more
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: The more "This Is Not a Film" underscores the cruel containment of a great artist, the more we actually become aware - very indirectly, in a very Panahi fashion - of a city in chaos outside, with sounds of gunfire and distant street blazes. Read more
Scott Tobias, AV Club: This Is Not A Film is pleasing mainly just as a message-in-a-bottle from a restless, persecuted artist -- that is, until the amazing closing shot, which brings the volatility of post-Green Revolution Iran home with unforgettable force. Read more
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It's a statement about courage, a poke in the eye of political oppression. Read more
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: An inspiring must-see for anyone who feels the urgent need to create something beautiful and meaningful, no matter the cost. Read more
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: In short, "This Is Not a Film" is the world within an apartment, and it is quietly devastating. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: This may not be a film, but it's a moving statement of defiance and despair. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: A simple description of what transpires in This Is Not a Film doesn't begin to convey its power. Read more
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Ignore the title This Is Not a Film - this is a great film, and a triumph of creativity and courage over repression. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Fascinating for what it signifies as much as what it shows, "This Is Not a Film" illustrates how Panahi is struggling to stay alive creatively and, paradoxically, can't help but demonstrate how much of a natural filmmaker he is. Read more
Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic: This film is unique in a dreadful way: what happens on screen would not be particularly interesting without the facts surrounding its making. Read more
John Anderson, Newsday: There are fireworks -- and an ending that's as dramatic as anything made by any director making a film, which is something Panahi accomplishes with a bit of a wink, and no small amount of courage. Read more
Richard Brody, New Yorker: Panahi depicts his plight with warm, self-deprecating humor... Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The film is terrific ... at capturing the drip-drip-drip of what amounts to, basically, Panahi's home imprisonment. Read more
Ella Taylor, NPR: Rene Magritte, whose famous pipe painting is slyly honored in the movie's title, would be jazzed. Read more
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: It's irrefutably art, and undeniably vital. Read more
Kyle Smith, New York Post: There is courage and cheekiness here. What there is not is a story, or much insight or even anger; anyone expecting an indictment of Iran will be sorely disappointed. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I would like to show "This Is Not a Film" to those in the United States who are in favor of a close union of church and state. Read more
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Any way you slice it, it's a brave and brilliant act of defiance. Read more
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: An act of political defiance, a moving personal document and a meditation on what film is and can be. Read more
Dana Stevens, Slate: The triumph of This Is Not a Film is not only an artistic one -- the very existence of this movie is a gift. No wonder it came to us in a cake. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Deft and ironic, mixing banal reality with poignant metaphor in a typically Iranian style. Read more
Cath Clarke, Time Out: As for Panahi, I could watch him for hours. With his film, its title, with his dignity and strength of purpose he mocks the stupidity of the regime's censorship. Read more
Karina Longworth, Village Voice: It's a political statement, an act of defiance, a master class in one auteur's body of work and process, and a document of a life unseen. Read more
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: It's a cry from the heart of an artist compelled to create, tell stories and respond to hostile, confounding realities. Read more