Reception
What ranking did the film hold in Sight & Sound?
This Is Not a Film
"This Is Not a Film" has garnered critical acclaim. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 99% based on reviews from 88 critics, with an average rating of 8.9/10, and the site's consensus is: "Through simple means and filming, This is Not a Film presents a vital political statement and a snapshot of life in Iran as enemy of the state." Sight & Sound film magazine listed this at #8 on its list of best film of 2012. Calling "This Is Not A Film" one of the top 10 movies of 2012, critic Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post said the movie "uses Brechtian staging, blurred lines between documentary and drama, and an iPhone to explore the notion of physical and political boundaries, the aesthetic and technological contours of cinema, and the enduring power of self-expression." Critic A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" rated "This Is Not a Film" the fourth best documentary of 2012. He called the film a "brave and witty video diary, an essay on the struggle between political tyranny and the creative imagination." In December 2012 it was shortlisted as one of 15 films eligible for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards.