Close-Up Long Shot

Sabzian had enough passion, knowledge and insight to be in movies.he had everything but money. He loved movies even more than Toto in Cinema Paradiso.

He sacrificed his life for cinema.

Kiarostami won many awards, reputation and money but after, he completely forget about the person who was the only reason for that specific movie(and what comes with); He easily could just help or pay Sabzian the person who obviously is poor and needs support.

Close-Up Long Shot (1996) was directed by Mamhoud Chokrollahi and Moslem Mansouri.

In 1990, the great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami directed a semi-documentary called Close-Up. The movie is about a fascinating man named Hosein Sabzian. Sabzian had convinced a middle-class family in Tehran that he was Mohsen Makhmalbaf, another important Iranian director. He didn't take on this impersonation for any reason other than to feel important when he was treated as a celebrity by the family.

Six years after Close-Up was shot, two other Iranian filmmakers produced a short documentary about Sabzian. Sabzian isn't destined for greatness, but he leads an interesting life, so the movie itself is interesting.

I think the film is worth seeing, but only if you've see Close-Up first. Fortunately, the Criterion DVD includes Close-Up Long Shot as an add-on. If you enjoyed Close-Up, you'll appreciate this documentary. We saw it on a small screen, where it worked well.