The White Balloon
Films that shaped it
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I learned cinema from Abbas Kiarostami. When I worked as his assistant director on Where Is the Friend’s House?, I was fresh out of film school. Everything I know about cinema, how to relate to a film, how to approach a story, how to work with actors and non-actors, all comes from Kiarostami and that initial experience.
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In 1988, when he was shooting Where Is the Friend's House?, I was working as his assistant director. He always gave me chances to suggest camera positions or talk about how to deal with the actors, particularly the children in the film. I learned the craft from him on that film.
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Many of my generation of filmmakers saw Kiarostami and Panahi as our teachers. We learned a lot from them. I recall vividly watching Panahi’s 'The White Balloon' and being extremely moved by it. It showed us what was possible.
Films it shaped
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I was very influenced by Asghar Farhadi, and that comes out in the film. His films are extremely complex and always play on the idea that there is no bad guy or good guy, but characters with different interpretations of the truth... I wanted to create a narrative that would question the very nature of truth. This is something Farhadi does very well.
