I do think that we are sometimes, as directors, guilty of portraying or asking our actors to behave in certain ways that are perhaps not very morally acceptable. I'm not the only one.

The day we run out of petrol is the day Iran will be free.

Whether you consider me a master filmmaker or not, I do it with my intuition and my vision, my experience as a storyteller.

Despite the great advantages of digital video and the great ease of using the medium, still those who use it have first to understand the sensitivities of how to best use the medium.

Unfortunately, cinema critics are very few in America, 400-500 people, but there are more critics of Iran.

It's not so much a question of whether we've shot it through 35mm or digital video; what is important is whether the audience accepts it as real.

I am still very surprised that I managed to make that film [Close Up]. When I actually look back on that film, I really feel that I was not the director but instead just a member of the audience.