In 2010, seminal Iranian director Jafar Panahi was arrested for promoting propaganda critical of Iran and sentenced to six years' house arrest and banned from filmmaking for twenty. That sentence didn't stop Panahi, however, who in 2011 made the covert documentary This Is Not A Film, and has returned once again with this follow up, a half-fiction, half-documentary piece that was filmed in secret and smuggled out of the country in a cake.

With liberal metaphors and symbols, it examines the very nature of storytelling in a twisting, post modern way: at its core is a writer (Kambuzia Partovi, who also co-directed the movie), his (very cute) dog, and his struggle with shadowy strangers who materialise at his door, berate him, and then abruptly disappear. A look at creative spirit under political pressure, it shows that the imagination can be both a refuge and a place of confinement. While it's challenging at times, the rewards - heady, emotional, provocative and invigorating - are endless.

Big apologies - we have had to cancel the screenings of Closed Curtain on Wed 9 Sept as the ceiling in Cinema 2 needs a good look over from the builders. They're working on fixing it as soon as possible - in the meantime both Cinema 1 and 3 are open as usual, and we're keeping our fingers crossed this is only a very short closure for Cinema 2!

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