Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
A man accused of impersonating a famous filmmaker reenacts the events surrounding his arrest with the people involved.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
Unemployed printer Hossein Sabzian is arrested after impersonating filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and promising the Ahankhah family roles in a film. Kiarostami records Sabzian's trial and asks the accused and family to reenact the events leading to it.
Why it belongs
Abbas Kiarostami makes documentary, reenactment, class desire, and cinephilia inseparable, allowing Sabzian to be both defendant and collaborator.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Courtroom footage, repeated household scenes, direct questions, cameras visible inside the process, and the fragile final meeting blur evidence and performance without cynicism. Sabzian's longing for cinema remains socially specific.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.
Institutional reference ranks
Sight & Sound17IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score
Great Cinema Master List scores
Greatness9.5
Engagement8.4
Ease7.8
Persian · Not Rated Docufiction Mood: Thought-Provoking
