Abbas Kiarostami Quotes

Autumn afternoon: a sycamore leaf falls softly and rests on its own shadow

You won't believe it but I quench my thirst by drinking from a mirage.

The full moon reflected in water, the water contained in the bowl, and the thirsty man deep in sleep.

Light: the greatest painter and photographer of all. At every single moment of our lives we see different images, different pictures.

It's said that in the beginning was the word, but for me the beginning is always an image. When I think about a conversation, it always starts with images. And what I love about photography is the inscription of a single moment: it's completely ephemeral. You take the photograph, and one second later, everything has changed.

من دەزانم کە خۆکوشتن لە گوناحە گەورەکانە، بەڵام ئەمەش گوناحێکی گەورەیە کە مرۆڤ بەختەوەر نەبێت!

لا يعرف القراءة أو الكتابة ولكنه كان يتحدث عن شيء لم أقرأه قط ولم يكتبه أحد

Art is the experience of what you’ve felt inside.

When we are in front of an abstract painting, we have the license to interpret in any way we want. Or music—music is a medium that we might not understand, but that we feel and enjoy. But in the case of cinema many expect to receive a clear and unified message, but what I’m suggesting is that a film could be experienced as a poem, a painting, or a piece of music.

Morning is white, evening is black, a gray sorrow in between.

A story starts before we encounter it and concludes long after we have turned away.

سقوط را به‌خاطر پرواز تجربه کردم

بــرای بعضــی قلــه جــای فتــح اســت بــرای قلــه جــای بــرف

دوستــانــم مــی رنجــاننــدم مــدام از دشمنــان چیــزی در خــاطــرم نیســت

The nature that is in the location of my films can be seen in my photography, and I want my films to become closer to my photography and more distant from storytelling. It is true that these are completely separate milieus, but in my opinion, the ideal situation for me is for these two areas - photography and cinema - to become closer to one another.

Art sees things in close-up, focusing our attention, teaching us to not cast blame so freely. Art doesn't make judgements, it informs and teaches. The camera allows truth to circulate in places it might not otherwise go.

Following the mirage here I am at the water's edge without the feeling of thirst.

Most people live only a single life, but an artist lives many. Every work of art is an all-consuming gift. It takes everything from its creator, but ultimately gives life.

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

It can be invigorating to live within walls and work within restrictions. Such things can oddly, be liberating, as we are forced to learn how to evade and elude. Barriers compel us to react against them and maoeuvre beyond, just as a flow of water changes direction when blocked.

I am afraid of heights I have fallen from a high place I am afraid of fire I have been burned many times I am afraid of separation often I have been offended I am not afraid of death I have never died before not even once

 از ستم روزگار پناه بر شعر،

This is a man who can do nothing but his own thing, who could turn his back and be satisfied with spending the rest of his days alone, processing the contents of his mind.

Look at the world anew each day. Clean out your eyes. Your job is to offer insights, so continue to frame everyday things in new ways that help you, and us, see them differently.

If God has provided us with one thing, it's the power of imagination. Dreaming clearly has some function, otherwise why would we be capable of it? The ugliness of the world lies before us, whether we want to look or not, but we filter things and dig into our inhibitions, as we dream and fantasize, we come to learn about our true feelings and beliefs and desires. By doing so, we temporarily escape real life.

I like my half-finished cinema to be vague. I like ambiguities. I am a filmmaker who asks audiences to make more effort than usual, to bask in temporary confusion, and by so doing express themselves, which is why I lose some viewers along the way. For m, film is about enticing people to look and ask questions, to take the trouble to consider cinema as something other than just entertainment.

The most effective way of refining you work is to keep it short and simple. "I didn't do anything," explained Michelangelo when asked how he created David. "The statue already existed in the block of stone. All I did was remove everything unnecessary." Rumi advises us not to talk too much, to use the fewest words possible. Consider this idea when telling your stories,when making films, when selecting images, when living life.

I think a good film is one that has a lasting power, and you start to reconstruct it right after you leave the theater. There are a lot of films that seem to be boring, but they are decent films. On the other hand, there are films that nail you to your seat and overwhelm you to the point that you forget everything, but you feel cheated later. These are the films that take you hostage. I absolutely don’t like the films in which the filmmakers take their viewers hostage and provoke them. I prefer the films that put their audience to sleep in the theater. I think those films are kind enough to allow you a nice nap and not leave you disturbed when you leave the theater. Some films have made me doze off in the theater, but the same films have made me stay up at night, wake me up thinking about them in the morning, and keep on thinking about them for weeks. Those are the kinds of films I like.

When you look at nature, you see a hidden mystery that gives a special flavor to the photograph.

.شه‌و درێژ، ڕۆژ درێژ، ته‌مه‌ن كورت

I want to create the type of cinema that shows by not showing. This is very different from most movies nowadays, which are not literally pornographic but are in essence pornographic, because they show so much that they take away any possibility of imagining things for ourselves. My aim is to give the chance to create as much as possible in our minds, through creativity and imagination. I want to tap the hidden information that’s within yourself and that you probably didn’t even know existed inside you.

At the earliest assault of autumn wind a horde of Leaves seeks asylum in my room

The magenta cloud turns dark blue as it mourns the departing sun

I escorted the moon down to the heart of a dark cloud I drank some wine and fell asleep

Kiarostami, always in search of the unfamilar

My job is merely to make suggestions and talk about my own particular way of doing things, which is one method among many, and which to this day continues to evolve

Every story that moves and interests me has an element of truth to it.

As we watch the characters in a film and explore the situations they find themselves in, we are reminded of the sweetness and bitterness, accord and strife, folly and wisdom of our own lives.

I delight when the unexpected supersedes planning. Curiosity, improvisation, randomness. We search for happy accidents.

Each of us sees God differently. Some prophets evoke a vengeful and pitiless God, others a merciful one. It was the latter that was revealed to us at school, as we learned to write our first words: water, bread, father. The God I have held within since I was five years old is compassionate and kindly.

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

In the total darkness, poetry is still there, and it is there for you.