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.

It's very difficult to talk about religion in Iran because religion has gotten so mixed up with politics.

Often times, music is used to evoke an emotion and it's become a cliche, so I don't want to do that, and actually what I do, is that emotional intensity that has developed throughout the film, I allow it to get released by having that music at the end with the credits.

One must never tell a child what it is they should display acting.

Because I write the screenplay entirely and precisely, there is the danger that an actor might feel that this finite role is being imposed on them. I want the actors to feel that this is their own role, and that they can go back to point zero and develop this character.

Whenever I write a part, I think there's this person somewhere in the world that this part is specifically for and all I have to do is go searching to find that particular individual.

When we talk about self-confrontations, we are speaking about moral issues rather than social issues.