I wasn't searching for a common denominator - I started wondering about the challenge of working in other cultures. What I reached was the sudden acknowledgment of the universal aspect of filmmaking.

If you are a businessman or a politician in Iran, you can get a visa as quickly as you ask for it.

Therefore, when you see the end result, it's difficult to see who's the director, me or them. Ultimately, everything belongs to the actors - we just manage the situation.

I spend a lot of time doing carpentry. Sometimes there is nothing that gives me the contentment that sawing a piece of wood does.

Directors don't always create, they can also destroy with too many demands.

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.

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