Week 7 Screening - Close-Up (1990) w/ Amnesty International

Past the half-way point of this semester, we welcome you back for another screening. This week, in collaboration with Amnesty International, we're screening Close-Up.

Content Warning: Depictions of gaslighting.

Part film, part documentary, Close-Up tells the story of Hossein Sabzian and the Ahankhah family, beginning when a chance meeting leads to Hossein impersonating the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Arrested for this bizarre case of fraud, the story catches the attention of director Abbas Kiarostami, who immediately begins production on Close-Up.
Told partially through real footage taken as the story unfolded, and scenes in which those involved play themselves, Close-Up blurs the lines of production and reality when the past is reconstructed and events are both shaped and depicted by the film itself. Initially critically panned on release in Iran, Close-Up was recognised internationally for its achievements, widely praised by critics, receiving awards at film festivals, and named as one of the greatest films of all time in a poll conducted by the British Film Institute.