Quotes from Abbas Kiarostami

There are at least two retrospectives of my work each year in some country.

Some movies bring out the creativity in you. Every single audience member can become creative in the face of a particular movie. If you happen to like my films, it's because my films provide a bed for you on which you can find your creativity. The Hollywood movies do not provide that for you.

There are certainties in existence, but love is something much harder to define than light and dark, life and death. I think saying you are "like" someone in love sounds right.

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.

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.

When I talk to some of the younger filmmakers, they are so worried about their films that, eventually, this state of being worried reflects itself in and helps the final work. Whereas, with projects that are meticulously planned, you look at the end result and it is full of emptiness.

I would say that no film is apolitical. There are politics in all films. Any film that is anchored in a society, any film that deals with humanity is necessarily political.

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.

In my opinion the man looks at the relationship in a more bitter fashion and the woman still holds great hopes.

In order to be universal, you have to be rooted in your own culture.

I would be too selfish if I said everyone should see my movies more than once. To say that would mean I'm just marketing my work!

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

I've often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us, unless it's inside a frame.

I can only display what I've been nurtured with, which is this worldview which has become my view. If I displayed anything different from it in my work, I wouldn't deserve this heritage.

If I do continue to have the opportunity to work in Iran, that's very much what I'd prefer to do.

I think I really produce my best work in Iran.

I film normal-life subjects in natural settings that some people would consider uncinematic. But what I want to show is nature itself, as the truth of life.

It's true that the best way of knowing yourself is to put yourself into different situations.

I have no advice for anyone on how to live.

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.

I think violence can never be justified.

There is violence in real life but I would never impose violence in a film just to attract the audience.

If you are a businessman or a politician in Iran, you can get a visa as quickly as you ask for it.

To me, AIDS is an international epidemic and every country can be affected by it. Therefore, it can be discussed on an international level. Unfortunately, AIDS doesn't require a visa.