A movie is about human beings, about humanity.

Using non-actors has its own rules and really requires that you allow them to do their own thing.

I think I really produce my best work in Iran.

I think I'm no different to my friends who are doctors or businessmen or architects - we all started watching films of the golden age together. But whether I'm making films or writing poetry or doing photography, it's very much rooted in my sense of unease. And that's really where everything goes back to.

I thought that choosing a non-professional was a condition for me, because it would allow Juliette to have a less-professional way of acting. It would challenge her performance as a professional actress.

The film [Close Up] made itself, to a large extent. The characters involved were very real, I wasn't directing the actors so much as being directed by them. So it was a very particular film.

The experience of life teaches us that being like someone in love is more real, because everything is uncertain.