I prefer the countryside to cities. This is also true of my films: I have made more films in rural societies, and villages, than in towns.

I only make notes, I don't write dialogues in full. And the notes are very much based on my knowledge of person.

As long as I take the responsibility of the choice, I have to make the choice that is as right as possible.

In my experience as a director, I think there is obviously something of the way men - maybe that's a common point with Shirin - the way men see women in the film, and the way these two characters see each other.

It seems that film-makers are being divided between those working in digital and those who are not. I think it's not something predetermined - it all depends on what project we have in mind, and on that basis we choose the medium.

I don't generally derive my stories from novels. I try to turn into film things I have felt or experienced.

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