I myself had to grow a longer beard and Afghan clothes. I was in danger of being kidnapped by smugglers, though I didn't know it at the time.

Time magazine selected Makhmalbaf's 2001 film Kandahar as one of top 100 films of all time. Makhmalbaf left Iran in 2005 shortly after the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and now lives in Paris following the events of the 2009 Iranian presidential election.