Close-Up
8.2
“A real-life situation based on a real incident in actual locations with actual people involved.”
This fiction-documentary hybrid uses a sensational real-life event—the arrest of a young man on charges that he fraudulently impersonated the well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf—as the basis for a stunning, multilayered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and existence, in which the real people from the case play themselves.
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Cast
18 people
Hossain Sabzian
Hossain Sabzian
Abolfazl Ahankhah
Abolfazl Ahankhah
Mehrdad Ahankhah
Mehrdad Ahankhah
Nayer Mohseni Zonoozi
Nayer Mohseni Zonoozi
Ahmad Reza Moayed Mohseni
Family Friend
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Known for
A Moment of Innocence
Hossain Farazmand
Reporter
Mahrokh Ahankhah
Mahrokh Ahankhah
Monoochehr Ahankhah
Monoochehr Ahankhah
Haj Ali Reza Ahmadi
Judge
Also in
Scene of the Crime
Mohammad Ali Barrati
Soldier
Davood Goodarzi
Sergeant
Abbas Kiarostami Director · Ali Reza Zarrindast Cinematographer
United States release December 31, 1999 · Produced in Iran · Languages Azerbaijani, Persian
Production
Kanoon
Production
Iran
Produced in
Languages
Original title
کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک
Original language
Persian
Spoken on screen
Azerbaijani · Persian
Release dates
Iran · February 1, 1990
Premiere · Fajr Film Festival
Iran · May 9, 1990
Theatrical
United States · December 31, 1999
Theatrical · New York City, New York
United States · March 19, 2002
Physical · VHS & DVD
United States
October 1, 1990 · Premiere · Chicago International Film Festival
December 1, 1991 · Premiere · Hawaii Film Festival
April 1, 1992 · Premiere · San Francisco International Film Festival
April 2, 1992 · Premiere · Washington, D.C. International Film Festival
June 22, 2010 · Physical · DVD & Blu-ray
July 17, 2014 · Limited theatrical · Chazen Museum of Art, Madison
July 28, 2019 · Limited theatrical · IFC Center (2K Remastered Version)
August 18, 2019 · Limited theatrical · Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
December 27, 2019 · Limited theatrical · Seattle, Washington (35mm Version)
Brazil
October 1, 1990 · Premiere · São Paulo International Film Festival
February 19, 2002 · Physical · DVD
November 24, 2026 · Limited theatrical · IMS Paulista ("Abbas Kiarostami em Retrospectiva" - 2K Restoration)
Canada
August 1, 1990 · Premiere · Toronto International Film Festival
October 1, 1990 · Premiere · Montréal Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
August 1, 1991 · Premiere · Vancouver International Film Festival
France
November 1, 1990 · Premiere · Nantes Festival of 3 Continents
October 30, 1991 · Theatrical
May 1, 1996 · Premiere · Cannes Film Festival
April 20, 2016 · Theatrical · Re-release (Restored Version)
May 28, 2021 · Limited theatrical · Centre Pompidou (Remastered Version)
Germany
June 1, 1990 · Premiere · Munich International Film Festival
Greece
November 1, 1992 · Premiere · Thessaloniki International Film Festival
November 1, 1995 · Premiere · Thessaloniki International Film Festival
November 24, 2004 · Premiere · Thessaloniki International Film Festival
August 7, 2025 · Theatrical · Re-Release
November 4, 2025 · Premiere · Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Italy
September 1, 1990 · Premiere · Rimini International Film Festival
November 1, 1996 · Premiere · Torino Film Festival
Portugal
September 29, 1992 · Limited theatrical · Cinemateca Portuguesa
December 15, 2006 · Physical · DVD
January 14, 2026 · Limited theatrical · Cinemateca Portuguesa - Museu do Cinema
Switzerland
August 1, 1990 · Premiere · Locarno Film Festival
More from Abbas Kiarostami
Other films they directed, best known first.
Some details come from TheTVDB.