Abbas Kiarostami | 1990 | Iran | 98 minutes | Persian language with English subtitles.
Proudly presented as part of our Persian Film Fest at FOMO Secret Cinema - January 12-18 2026
One of cinema’s most radical achievements, CLOSE-UP blurs documentary and fiction to tell the true story of a man who impersonated Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. When the deception is discovered, Kiarostami reconstructs the events using the real people involved. The film moves between courtroom testimony, reenactment, and documentary footage, slowly revealing why the impersonation happened and what cinema meant to the man who carried it out.
The film sits in the second wave of the Persian New Wave, a period when filmmakers used realism and minimalism to speak about social pressures under the Islamic Republic. By focusing on a single act of fraud, Kiarostami exposes how class, aspiration, and censorship shape daily life.
Location: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.
How to find FOMO: Enter the Bazari via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left behind the jewellery stand. One flight up.
FOMO Secret Cinema • Bazari Orbeliani, 0102 Tbilisi, Georgia