Cinema gives you the opportunity to be both a grandparent and a grandchild whereas in life you cannot be both at the same time.

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

When I met Akira Kurosawa in Japan, one question he asked me was, "How did you actually make the children act the way they do? I do have children in my films but I find that I reduce and reduce their presence until I have to get rid of them because there's no way that I can direct them." My own thought is that one is very grand, like an emperor on a horse, and it's very hard for a child to relate to that. In order to be able to cooperate with a child, you have to come down to below their level in order to communicate with them.

Film is very much a universal and common voice, and we can't limit it to one particular culture.

I don't like reverse-angle shots - I find them very fake and very untruthful to the viewer.

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

I prefer the films that put their audience to sleep in the theater. Some films have made me doze off in the theater, but the same films have made me stay up at night, wake up thinking about them in the morning, and keep on thinking about them for weeks.