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The experience of life teaches us that being like someone in love is more real, because everything is uncertain.

Abbas Kiarostami

I think violence can never be justified. At the same time, nobody’s culture or beliefs should be insulted, that’s not something I can accept either. But I cannot justify or accept any violence at all.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Accept Belief Insulted Justified Thinking Violence
Religion works on some people but not on everyone, because it says, ‘Stop thinking and accept what I tell you.’ That’s not valid for people who want to think and reflect.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Accept People Religion Thinking Valid Want
The only thing that I can do is hold a mirror in front of men and women, in front of the viewer in the theater, to reflect. There is nothing but reflection that I could intend to offer the viewer of the film.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Front Hold Men Mirror Nothing Reflection Viewer
I never really learned photography.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Institue Interest Learned Photography Really
Silence doesn’t seem heavy or difficult.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Difficult heavy Option Silence
The film [Close Up] made itself, to a large extent. The characters involved were very real, I wasn’t directing the actors so much as being directed by them. So it was a very particular film.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Actor Character Directing Film Large Real Very
Those same people, when they leave the theater, when they look behind the curtains they are curious about their neighbors, they can guess if their neighbors are siblings or a couple, how old they are, what their occupation is.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Couple Curtain Guess Neighbour People Sibling
I really haven’t seen The Report in a long time. I don’t have a copy, but I’ll have to see it again. I think it would be good to put both these men next to each other.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Copy Long Men Report Thinking Time
I prefer the countryside to cities. This is also true of my films: I have made more films in rural societies, and villages, than in towns.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

City Village Film Prefer Society Town True
Everybody knows that I am not usually patient enough to actually sit down and watch one of my own films from the beginning to the end – I never do.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Actually Beginning End Film Patient Watch Down
I really think that I don’t mind people sleeping during my films, because I know that some very good films might prepare you for sleeping or falling asleep or snoozing. It’s not to be taken badly at all.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Digital Fall Film Good Prepare Sleep Taken
I do believe in [Robert] Bresson’s method of creation through omission, not through addition.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Addition Believe Creation Omission Robert
Children are very strong and independent characters and can come up with more interesting things than Marlon Brando, and it’s sometimes very difficult to direct or order them to do something.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Character Children Independent Interesting Marlon Brando Strong
It seems that film-makers are being divided between those working in digital and those who are not. I think it’s not something predetermined – it all depends on what project we have in mind, and on that basis we choose the medium.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Digital Film Maker Mind Predetermined Something Thinking Working
The [Iranian] government grapples with more important issues and we can maybe say that these films don’t really exist for them. It’s not about whether they like it or don’t; it’s just not very important to them.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Exist Government Grapple Important Issue Issues
I was mentioning with the digital camera, maybe this new fashion of filmmaking gives a closer look of what life may be like. But it’s still nothing but a copy.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Camera Closer Digital Fashion Film Giving Making Nothing
Having an international voice is not really about whether we speak Persian or any other language.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

International Language Persian Speak Voice
My way of expression is full of complications and mystery because that’s my perception of life.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Complication Expression Life Mystery Perception Way
Whether you consider me a master filmmaker or not, I do it with my intuition and my vision, my experience as a storyteller.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Consider Filmmaker Intuition Master Storyteller Vision
A work of art doesn’t exist outside the perception of the audience.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Art Audience Exist Outside Perception Work
I didn’t just see myself as a film director here [in Life And Nothing More], but also as an observer of people who had been condemned to death.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Condemned Death Director Film People
I spend a lot of time doing carpentry. Sometimes there is nothing that gives me the contentment that sawing a piece of wood does.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Carpentry Contentment Doe Giving Spend Wood
Close-Up is a very particular film in my oeuvre. It’s a film that was made in a very particular way; mainly because I didn’t really have the time to think about how to go about making the film.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Close up Director Film Oeuvre Thinking Time Way
Directors don’t always create, they can also destroy with too many demands.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Always Create Demand Destroy Director
A movie is about human beings, about humanity.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Human Being Humanity Movie
While shooting Ten I was sitting in the backseat, but I didn’t interfere. Sometimes, I was following in another car, so I was not even present on the “set”, because I thought they would work better in my absence.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Backseat Car Interfere Present Shooting Sitting Ten
As soon as people enter a theater they must become moron consumers who must be fed information.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Consumer Fed Information Moron People Theater

The experience of life teaches us that being like someone in love is more real, because everything is uncertain.

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The experience of life teaches us that being like someone in love is more real, because everything is uncertain.

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