Close-up (Persian)
(DVD) 

Originally produced as an Iranian motion picture in 1990.

Accompanying booklet includes essay by film critic Godfrey Cheshire.

880-08,Close-Up: Based on a true story and the journal article in Sorush magazine "Bogus Makhmalbaf Arrested" by Hossain Farazmand.

880-09,Traveler: Based on a story by Hassan Rafi'i.

06/08/2010

880-05,Close-up: Cinematography, Ali Reza Zarrindast ; editor, Abbas Kiarostami.

880-06,The traveler: Cinematography, Firuz Malekzadeh ; music, Kambiz Roshanravan.

880-07,Close-up long shot: Cinematography, Farzin Khosrowshahi ; editor, Nasrollah Sheibani ; music, Shahrokh Khadjenouri.

Abbas Kiarostami: Editors, Anne Alvergue, Chris Ramey ; camera, Aziz El-Attar.

A walk with Kiarostami: Editor, Jamsheed Akrami ; camera, Donal Gilligan.

880-02,Close-up: Appearing as themselves: Hossain Sabzian, Hassan Farazmand, Abolfazl Ahankhah, Mehrdad Ahankhah, Nir Mohseni Zanoozi, Ahmadreza Mohseni, Moshen Makhmalbaf.

880-03,The traveler: Masud Zandbegleh, Hassan Darabi, Mostafa Tari, Hassan Arab.

880-04,"Close-up" long shot: Hossein Sabzian, Fatemeh Sabzian, Nemat Ebadi, residents of the village of Yabr.

Abbas Kiarostami: Interviewer, Tarik Benbrahim.

A walk with Kiarostami: Interviewer, Jamsheed Akrami.

880-10,Close-up: The true story of Hossain Sabzian, a poor, underemployed, divorced, father of two who is obsessed with the cinema. In 1989, Sabzian convinced the Ahankhah family that he was Iranian filmmaker Moshen Makhmalbaf (The Silence) and that he would cast them in his next film. Eventually, the family caught on to the ruse and contacted the authorities, leading to Sabzian's arrest. A journalist wrote a column about the incident that Kiarostami read. The director quickly put together a crew and set about to film the trial as well as restage previous events, but with a twist: Sabzian, the Ahankhahs, and the others involved played themselves. Thus, the film is an amalgamation of documentary and drama that questions the very nature and purpose of film, forces audiences to contemplate the basic experience of moviegoing, and in the process redefined how Iranian cinema saw itself.

880-11,Traveler: The film depicts a troubled but resourceful grade-school-age boy who, in his quest to attend a football match at any cost, lies, cheats, and steals to accumulate enough money to afford a bus ticket, indifferent to the effects of his actions on other people, even those closest to him.

880-12,Close-up long shot: A follow-up to Abbas Kiarostami's Close-up, this documentary is an intimate portrait of the film's principal figure, Hossein Sabzian, which consists of conversations and interviews with Sabzian and people who know him.

A walk with Kiarostami: Iranian film professor Jamsheed Akrami made this portrait of Abbas Kiarostami over the course of two days at the 2001 Galway Film Festival in Ireland where Kiarostami taught a master filmmaker's workshop. Shown first on a ferry and then on a nature photography walk, an unusually candid Kiarostami reflects on images, nature, water, film composition, and other subjects, in a wide-ranging, light-hearted discussion.

DVD; Region 1, NTSC; Dolby digital mono.; full screen presentation, aspect ratio 1.33:1.

In Persian with optional subtitles in English.