Having an international voice is not really about whether we speak Persian or any other language.

If we're not going to take full advantage of digital, then 35mm is a better medium. Especially for shooting dramas - I have no problem with 35mm.

The digital camera has given me total freedom and a different way of filming.

When we start shooting I don't have rehearsals with characters at all. So, rather than pulling them towards myself, I travel closer to them; it's very much closer to the real person than anything I try to create. So I give them something but I also take from them.

In order to be universal, you have to be rooted in your own culture.

In the total darkness, poetry is still there, and it is there for you.

I think Woody Allen is Woody Allen, and no matter where he goes he still makes his Woody Allen films.