I think happy and hope is more hopeful when you acknowledge that there's awful things too.

I like poetry, but honestly, I like dramatic literature more. If I had to pick between Rumi and Dostoevsky, I would pick Dostoevsky without even thinking about it. Ninety-nine out of 100 Iranians would probably pick Rumi. Kiarostami, too, would probably pick Rumi first. I try to have the meaning be in the action of the story, not in the symbolism. I want it to be in the action, and it's dramatic action that creates the meaning.

So much can be learned by any filmmaker by studying his work, in terms of blocking, staging, editing and sound.

I like to give the actors the freedom, and they know they have the freedom, to change anything they want at any time.

I think happy and hope is more hopeful when you acknowledge that there's awful things too.

The people who run the major banks have MBAs and wear suits. And when those people in suits come to the homes of people who don't have a high school diploma, don't even speak English, and offer them a home at zero percent down, that doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense.

Most of the projects aren't that interesting anymore. There used to be a day when the studios made amazing films, and they were about human beings.