Mohsen Makhmalbaf

“In Afghanistan, you don't understand yourself solely as an individual. You understand yourself as a feather in a bird's wing.”

“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.”

“The story of one person is the story of all of humanity.”

“The new wave of Iranian cinema is a cinema of poets.”

“I believe that a film is not complete until it is seen by the audience.”

“Rather than crying and moaning, I think it is important to laugh at ourselves.”

“I was in prison for five years. I was tortured. I was 17 years old.”

“If we want to understand our own society, we have to look at it through the eyes of the other.”

“I came from a family of believers. I was a religious boy.”

“My films are a dialogue between me and the audience.”

“Through cinema, we can travel to other worlds and experience other lives.”

“Freedom of expression is not a gift. It is a right that must be fought for.”

“My goal in cinema is to be a mirror for the society.”

“When you are a political person, you are a hero. When you are a filmmaker, you are an artist.”