I'm not sure that my films show the reality of life in Iran; we show different aspects of life. Iran is a very extensive and expansive place, and sometimes, even for us who live there, some of the realities are very hard to comprehend.

I've often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us, unless it's inside a frame.

In my mind, there isn't as much of a distinction between documentary and fiction as there is between a good movie and a bad one.

I do believe that a film like Ten could never have been made with a 35mm camera. The first part of the film lasts 17 minutes, and by the end of that part, the kid has totally forgotten the camera.

I thought that I had been asked every kind of question possible.

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

I think life is so difficult to catch, it's so furtive, that a copy, a film, can in no way catch it and represent it.