Latest Abbas Kiarostami Quotes from Interviews

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• You've noticed that same joke told by two different people, once works, and the other time doesn't, simply because how the person edits it. The silences, the pauses, what they neglect, what they emphasize - all of this matters.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  People, Silence, Different

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I remember when I came out of an exam thinking I had done well and then I had a clue that maybe one answer was wrong, I remembered that I rather stop knowing, stop thinking about it, appreciating life instead. So first, it was just a memory. But then I realized that in life, it's a much more general sentiment - that instead of waiting for other people's judgment, I'd rather focus on my own feelings, that everything is fine. To go on with my life rather than anticipating other people's judgements that might be negative.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Memories, Thinking, Appreciate

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I often say to my students in workshops that if they are trying to find literary inspiration, they should not go and read novels, because novels are more appropriate for series. Where as they should read short stories - that's the right format for you to be able to actually display the narrative in a film.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Inspiration, Trying, Students

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• Maybe more than a teller, I am a story listener. I really enjoy listening to stories. I remember them and keep them in my mind. All of my films are a collection of small stories that have been told to me.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Listening, Mind, Remember

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I don't ask my students to have studied film or any education in general. What I ask them is to come and sit and tell me a story, and the way they choose it and tell it, for me, the best criteria for whether they are right for making films. There's nothing more important than being able to tell your story orally.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Important, Students, Film

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• 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

  Government, Issues, Important

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• I'm not sure that my films show the reality of life in Iran; we show different aspects of life. Iran is a very extensive and expansive place, and sometimes, even for us who live there, some of the realities are very hard to comprehend.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Reality, Iran, Different

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• The Iranian government as a whole has no relationship with my films. They're not particularly interested, perhaps this kind of cinema is not very interesting to them.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Government, Interesting, Cinema

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• As film-makers, it is very important for us to find common ground between cultures, and maybe that's less the case for politicians who benefit more from finding the conflicts and differences between us.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Differences, Important, Culture

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• Unfortunately, cinema critics are very few in America, 400-500 people, but there are more critics of Iran.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Iran, America, People

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• We don't look at each other [in the car], but instead do so only when we want to. We're allowed to look around without appearing rude. We have a big screen in front of us and side views. Silence doesn't seem heavy or difficult.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Views, Car, Silence

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• My car is my best friend. My office. My home. My location. I have a very intimate sense when I am in a car with someone next to me. We're in the most comfortable seats because we're not facing each other, but sitting side by side.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Home, Car, Office

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• In order to be able to cooperate with a child, you have to come down to below their level in order to communicate with them. Actors are also like children.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Children, Order, Actors

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• When I met Akira Kurosawa in Japan, one question he asked me was, "How did you actually make the children act the way they do? I do have children in my films but I find that I reduce and reduce their presence until I have to get rid of them because there's no way that I can direct them." My own thought is that one is very grand, like an emperor on a horse, and it's very hard for a child to relate to that. In order to be able to cooperate with a child, you have to come down to below their level in order to communicate with them.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Children, Japan, Way

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• Using non-actors has its own rules and really requires that you allow them to do their own thing.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Actors

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• 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

  Strong, Children, Character

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• Directors don't always create, they can also destroy with too many demands.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Directors, Demand

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• 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

  Car, Sitting, Shooting

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• Therefore, when you see the end result, it's difficult to see who's the director, me or them. Ultimately, everything belongs to the actors - we just manage the situation.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Directors, Actors, Ends

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• This kind of directing, I think, is very similar to being a football coach. You prepare your players and place them in the right places, but once the game is on, there's nothing much you can do - you can smoke a cigarette or get nervous, but you can't do much.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Football, Player, Thinking

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• When we start shooting I don't have rehearsals with characters at all. So, rather than pulling them towards myself, I travel closer to them; it's very much closer to the real person than anything I try to create. So I give them something but I also take from them.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Real, Character, Giving

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• I only make notes, I don't write dialogues in full. And the notes are very much based on my knowledge of person.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Writing, Notes, Dialogue

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• When I find the character, I try to spend time with them and get to know them very well. Therefore my notes are not from the character that I had in my mind before, but are instead based on the people I've met in real life.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Real, Character, People

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• I think, just as footballers play better at home, maybe film-makers, too, create better at home, even though the rules of football are the same wherever you go.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Football, Home, Thinking

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.

• I don't have very complete scripts for my films. I have a general outline and a character in my mind, and I make no notes until I find the character who's in my mind in reality.

  Abbas Kiarostami

  Character, Reality, Mind

  Interview with Geoff Andrew, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2005.