9 Awesome Movies That Were Shot In Secret

5. This Is Not A Film

Though the majority of the movies on this list were shot in secret out of choice, this documentary from legendary Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was conceived and filmed that way out of sheer necessity.

The film itself revolves around Panahi being placed under house arrest and banned from filmmaking for 20 years, for what the government perceived as his creation of anti-regime propaganda.

With the help of co-director Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Panahi shoots footage of himself growing increasingly paranoid and stir-crazy in his apartment, as he discusses the movie he planned to make next, while creating a fascinating meta-film in his own right.

Even when production was completed, the film had to be smuggled out of Iran to the Cannes Film Festival in a birthday cake, where it premiered to unanimous acclaim. As a potent political statement and righteous middle-finger to authoritarian regimes everywhere, it is a shining example of guerrilla filmmaking at its most powerful.