Officially directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb—and unofficially by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi—This Is Not a Film follows a harsh legislative decision that effectively banned Panahi from making movies for 20 years after he was convicted of conspiring against the state. He and Mirtahmasb set out to turn the sentence inside out, obeying the letter of the law in order to implicitly denounce its spirit.

Equal parts sci-fi, noir, and formalist structure, Eve Sussman’s new multifaceted film embraces two creative touchstones: the first is the protean symbol of the Russian Cosmodrome, and the second is its namesake, Malevich’s painting White on White. Mining a surreal post-Soviet ambience, the result is a calculated, never-ending fever dream caught in a forgotten corner of the Earth.

The cinematic experience is in turmoil, caught between the push to the future—an industry-wide switch to all-digital projection—and the pull of the past. The Walker Cinema’s renovation allows us to play it both ways: advancing the art of film, while also showcasing its rich history.

Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr has a reputation for terse gruffness, and some may conclude, misguidedly, that his films merely exhibit misanthropy and hopelessness. Yet what becomes apparent very quickly in speaking with the director is his humanism, his deep respect for individuals both in reality and as characters in his movies.

“3-D is the greatest revolution ever since the talkies, only most people [don’t] realize it because we [think it is] just a gimmick for national blockbusters,” says Wim Wenders, whose new film, Pina, reflects the technology’s newest wave. “Now some movies come out that show the true potential of 3-D, which is really a whole different way of seeing the world.”