1-World Festival of Foreign Films
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"Close-up"
1990
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

In this brilliant meditation on the power of movies, master Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami turns the medium upside-down and back again, blurring the lines between documentary and narrative film. Inspired by the true story of a lonely film buff who impersonated Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Kiarostami reenacts some of the man's trial and incorporates some footage from the actual event, using the real people involved as "actors." By making the filmmaking process as central as the story, Kiarostami avoids the pitfalls of the so-called "docudrama," creating something far more meaningful. His masterstroke comes when the real Makhmalbaf meets his impersonator. "...we are ultimately left defenseless against the extraordinary power of its final scenes, which are as transcendent--and as shrewd--as anything in cinema" (Godfrey Cheshire, New York Press). Farsi with English subtitles. 100 minutes.