You've noticed that same joke told by two different people, once works, and the other time doesn't, simply because how the person edits it. The silences, the pauses, what they neglect, what they emphasize - all of this matters.
Abbas KiarostamiI only make notes, I don't write dialogues in full. And the notes are very much based on my knowledge of person.
Abbas KiarostamiThis kind of directing, I think, is very similar to being a football coach. You prepare your players and place them in the right places, but once the game is on, there's nothing much you can do - you can smoke a cigarette or get nervous, but you can't do much.
Abbas KiarostamiHaving an international voice is not really about whether we speak Persian or any other language.
Abbas Kiarostami