Uptown Radio

In this image released by Palisades Tartan, Jafar Panahi is shown in a scene from "This is Not a Film." Photo by Palisades Tartan, AP.

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BY WILL SLOAN

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi started using his digital camera to create a documentary self-portrait after he was confined to house arrest and banned from directing for 20 years. He cheekily titled it “This Is Not a Film.” Panahi’s documentary was smuggled out of Iran on a USB drive inside a cake.

Panahi’s film opened in New York on Wednesday — three days after another Iranian film, “A Separation,” won the country its first Foreign Film Oscar.

I spoke to Jamsheed Akrami, a film professor and friend of Panahi. He said that as Iranian cinema reaches a higher international profile, its censorship practices are under greater scrutiny.

Jamsheed Akrami teaches film at William Patterson University. This Is Not a Film is playing at Film Forum.

News headlines for February 17, 2012

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Willow Belden speaks with Gyda Arber. Photo by Larry Tung/ Columbia Radio News.

The Brick Theater in Williamsburg is hosting a festival over the next few weeks, featuring 15 plays by Iranians and Iranian-Americans. The shows range from somber dramas to light-hearted comedies to avant-garde experimental pieces. Gyda Arber, the outreach director at the Brick Theater, speaks with our reporter Willow Belden about her travels to Iran last year and her hopes that the festival will help break down stereotypes about Iran.