Usually when I take my films to festivals, I feel incredibly anxious about them. I wonder how it will be received, how the audience will react. I feel deeply responsible for them.

I feel like a tree. A tree doesn't feel a duty to start doing something about the earth from which it comes. A tree just has to bear fruit, and leaves and blossoms. It doesn't feel grateful to the earth.

I can watch films and say how technically beautiful they are, but I'm not impressed by any technicality.

I don't feel like I've hit my stride. So I wonder what the moment will be when I get to be who I want to be.

I don't know whether it is fortunate or unfortunate, but I have no such thing as national pride. I don't feel proud that I am Iranian. I happen to be who I am.

I really enjoy listening to stories. I remember them and keep them in my mind.