Director: Amirhossein Ghiyasi
Cast: Amirmehdi Joule
Close Friend is a 2025 Iranian talk show series directed by Amirhossein Ghiyasi and produced by Digikala, featuring candid one-on-one conversations with host Amirmehdi Joule that bring well-known Iranian personalities up close in an intimate, unscripted setting.
What is Close Friend about?
Each episode of Close Friend places a familiar face from Iranian public life — entertainers, creators, athletes, and cultural figures — across from host Amirmehdi Joule in a setting designed to feel more like a conversation between old friends than a formal interview. The cameras roll as guests let their guard down, sharing personal stories, childhood memories, behind-the-scenes moments, and candid opinions they rarely voice in conventional media appearances. The format strips away the polish of traditional broadcast television in favour of genuine exchange, allowing viewers to encounter a more unguarded side of personalities they thought they already knew. Running at roughly sixty minutes per episode, the show rewards patience and gives its subjects room to speak at length without the pressure of a highlight-reel format.
Cast & crew
The series is helmed by director Amirhossein Ghiyasi, whose production sensibility keeps the visual grammar spare so the conversation itself stays centre stage. Amirmehdi Joule serves as the host, bringing a relaxed yet attentive interview style that encourages guests to open up beyond their public personas. Joule's instinct for follow-up questions gives Close Friend its unhurried, conversational rhythm.
Context & significance
For Iranian diaspora audiences, talk shows that feel genuinely intimate rather than promotional are rare. Close Friend arrives at a moment when Digikala — one of Iran's best-known digital platforms — is expanding into original video production, making this series a notable marker in the evolution of Persian-language entertainment. Diaspora viewers who grew up watching stiff state-television interviews will find the format refreshingly direct. The show also serves as a cultural window: hearing well-known Iranian figures speak candidly about their lives and craft connects overseas audiences to the contemporary cultural conversation happening back home, something no news bulletin can replicate.
Where & how to watch
Close Friend is available on K-Time in its original Persian audio. Stream every episode on the web, on your Android TV, or on your phone — no geo-blocking applies, so viewers worldwide can watch without any VPN. Subscribe and cancel anytime.