The Pursuit of Discovering the Truth, By Sara Amirkhani, Fall 2023
Reality, Performance, and Identity in Kiarostami’s Close-Up
This essay explores the relationship between reality and constructed identity in Abbas Kiarostami’s Close-Up (1990). Focusing on Hossein Sabzian’s impersonation of a filmmaker, it examines how aspiration, social expectations, and the desire for recognition shape the identities people inhabit and present to others. The film’s movement between documentary and reenactment complicates the distinction between lived experience and cinematic construction, raising questions about how truth emerges through performance.
Through a comparison with Close-Up Long-Shot (1996), the essay considers the tensions between Sabzian’s cinematic portrayal and his life beyond the film. It asks how an image can reveal a person while also constructing an identity for them. Situated within the social conditions of post-revolutionary Iran, this analysis examines cinema as both a means of encountering reality and a participant in shaping it.
Full essay available upon request.
