“I had no education in filmmaking. I started with a 8mm camera. I made 34 films, and little by little I gained more experience in filming.”

I use humour a lot. My foundation is tragic, but my appearance is humorous.

I always loved music, and I always wanted to make a film about it, but I could never do it because of the censorship that was around.

In Kurdistan, theres a lot of hardship – a lot of wars, a lot of bitter and difficult lifestyles. And witnessing all those made me a director.

Im free – but Im also not free because there are millions of young people living in Iran. A filmmaker can only do a little.

You need a team that speaks your language.

I used to believe that people are only born once, but now I feel I have been reborn, like I was given a new life. I see myself as a child, full of energy and hope.

Actually, the only thing I regret is not making more underground films and bringing them with me as historical documents.

I love music, I make films with music, I eat with music, I sleep with music, I think with music. Music makes me dream, it strengthens my creativity.

For me, its better to live without looking over your shoulder, worrying about who is controlling your phone, maybe poisoning your food.

Film has always been hard for me, I’m basically a stage actress. I never felt comfortable in front of the camera.

He [Viggo Mortensen] was standing behind the camera throwing the apples … And I’ve never seen him so happy.

All you have to do to be a camera actor is tell the truth.

The job is the same – to attempt to make it sound like you’ve never said it before and as if it’s just occurred to you. And that’s the same whether you’re on camera or whether you’re on stage in a room full of people.

When I began to photograph nudes, I let myself be guided by this camera, and instead of photographing what I saw,

I like that 3D is based on the fact that you look with two eyes, so two cameras imitate that.

You know, every time it comes, every time that light comes on or every time that camera comes on, every time that microphone comes on, the Mac Man seek and destroy.

None. They should just go out and photograph and stop talking about it. That’s the only way they are going to find themselves. They can’t do it in their heads – they have to go out and do it in the camera and get it on film.