Whether we like it or not, the modernity is something that comes from Western countries, and when the modernity comes to the Eastern countries, although they feel like they really need it, at the same time it shakes the very fundament of the culture - there is always this challenge between the two.

I prefer to stay in my country. But this doesn't mean if someone does want to leave Iran, I think they've done something wrong - the desire to leave is completely understandable.

Poetry, especially traditional Iranian poetry, is very good at looking at things from a number of different angles simultaneously.

I see screenwriting as a bit like a math equation which I have to solve.

There is no privilege in restriction. In other words, I disagree with people who say restriction makes you more creative. I think that's a misleading slogan. I might have been more creative without them than with them.

I think that theater is the closest medium to music. It's very pure. It's for the elite of the society. It's not for everyone in the society.

It's not some big event that creates the drama, it's the little things of everyday life that bring about that drama.