Mohsen Makhmalbaf

There's an 800 kilometer border between Iran and Afghanistan.

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

In many ways, it is very real, because I sat there for 9 days, and it was constantly happening, and that was…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

If I make two films in a year, they'll be different. This is my style - I can't have just one way.

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Five years ago, Samira did not want to continue in the regular school system in Iran. To help her with her education,…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

The Buddhas had to be destroyed by the Taliban to get the world thinking about Afghanistan.

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Because there is so little room for expression otherwise, a lot of people love cinema because they find it a way of…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

When we began filming, these people had legs, but as we were filming, they had been injured and they were brought to…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

It was really bizarre, that Sabzian business. You know I had no interest in being photographed before this incident. But then not…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

I myself had to grow a longer beard and Afghan clothes. I was in danger of being kidnapped by smugglers, though I…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

I've heard about brothers making films, but I've never heard about whole families making films like this. We didn't intend to do…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

From my films, you can at least learn about Iran, you can get a sense of the history and the society. But…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

From 7 in the morning to 11 at night, I was reading. I don't think one can find any other time in…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

A problem was the lack of cooperation of the Afghan community itself. The women, though living in Iran, were under cover and…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

The style depends on the subject.

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

But also, there are no films being made about Afghanistan.

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

The question in their minds was, why did the outside world, and particularly the Western world, produce all these landmines, and send…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Rumi, who is one of the greatest Persian poets, said that the truth was a mirror in the hands of God. It…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Do you know that every day, 10 people in Afghanistan are injured by landmines? It will continue for the next 50 years,…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

In Afghanistan, this is the problem, because everybody holds a piece of that mirror, and they all look at it and claim…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

I'm not playing myself. It's a symbolic situation, where I want to introduce a fascist behind the table. I couldn't have had…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

I was in jail four and a half years. When I came out, I continued the same struggle against injustice, but instead…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Usually people like to categorise artists. With my films, I categorise people: if I know which one of my movies you like,…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Afghan society is very complex, and Afghanistan has a very complex culture. Part of the reason it has remained unknown is because…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

When I came out, and for many years afterwards, it had become a habit for me to sit and read and read…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

I wanted to be left alone to live my life, so it was very easy for people to pretend that they were…

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf