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.

I gained a great deal from the period during which I worked in theater and I value those things a great deal.

Iranian filmmakers are not passive. They fight whenever they can, as creative expression means a lot to them. The restrictions and censorship in Iran are a bit like the British weather: one day it's sunny, the next day it's raining. You just have to hope you walk out into the sunshine.

It was important to me to make a film where I don't show the past but where the spectators can see the past.

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.

I always feel that a viewer has an expectation about every moment of the film and where it's going, so if I act against that, I've created a twist. In fact it becomes a kind of game with the expectations of the viewer. This is the superficial appearance. In the layer beneath there is a hidden theme. The result of each twist is that the judgment of the audience member is challenged.

There are those who simply want to live their lives, and feel they cannot live the way they want to in Iran. Others are ideologically motivated: They will stay no matter what and try to change things.