Bahman Ghobadi Quotes & Sayings

“I used to believe that people are only born once, but now I feel I have been reborn, like I was given a new life. I see myself as a child, full of energy and hope.”

“For me, it's better to live without looking over your shoulder, worrying about who is controlling your phone, maybe poisoning your food.”

“I use humour a lot. My foundation is tragic, but my appearance is humorous.”

“I love music, I make films with music, I eat with music, I sleep with music, I think with music. Music makes me dream; it strengthens my creativity.”

“I'm free - but I'm also not free because there are millions of young people living in Iran. A filmmaker can only do a little.”

“I always loved music, and I always wanted to make a film about it, but I could never do it because of the censorship that was around.”

“I had seen some films made about the underground music world in Tehran, and most of them were short documentaries about 30 or 40 minutes long. And I always wondered why they weren't publicized more. Really, their only flaw was they were short documentaries.”

“I had no education in filmmaking. I started with a 8mm camera. I made 34 films, and little by little I gained more experience in filming.”

“In Kurdistan, there's a lot of hardship - a lot of wars, a lot of bitter and difficult lifestyles. And witnessing all those made me a director.”

“Actually, the only thing I regret is not making more underground films and bringing them with me as historical documents.”