A major difference between Iranian and Western cinema is that in the West, the evolution of cinema began with paintings, then photography…it was a progression through image….But in the East, our tradition of the Persian miniature did not really affect our cinema. At the beginning of the Islamic era, paintings and drawings were discouraged. So our tradition of image is not as old as our tradition of poetry… [and] we went straight from narrative to cinema….Our story-telling tradition is very poetic.

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf
(via honeyandelixir)