Q: New York’s Museum of Modern Art is screening 32 of your films this month and touting your accomplishments as one of the great film directors of our time. I imagine you are less celebrated back home in Tehran. No one criticizes me; no one encourages me. Nobody has anything to do with me. Those who need to know who I am know who I am.

As an independent filmmaker living in a repressive Islamic theocracy, are you harassed by the government? They are very civil, but they don’t allow me to screen my movies.

If your films are not shown in theaters in Iran, do Iranians know of them? They can buy the DVDs on the black market.

It’s odd that your films would be viewed as subversive, when they’re more philosophical than political and abound with picturesque views of the countryside. My favorite is “Where Is the Friend’s House?” in which a young boy walks all night to return his friend’s notebook, which he took by mistake. I don’t have a favorite. When I see my old favorites, I can’t even stand 10 minutes of them. Either I have changed or the movies have become old.