[7] In her official biography,[clarification needed] Makhmalbaf stated that her first taste for cinema came as a 7-year-old when she played a role in her father's film The Cyclist in 1987.

In an interview at the London Film Festival in 1998, Samira Makhmalbaf stated that she felt that The Apple owed its existence to the new circumstances and changed the atmosphere in Iran due to the Khatami presidency.

[10] The Apple was invited to more than 100 international film festivals in two years, and going on to the screen in more than thirty countries.

She was nominated twice for Golden Palm of Cannes Film Festival for Takhté siah (Blackboards) (2001) and Panj é asr (At Five in the Afternoon) (2003).

In 2003, a panel of critics at the British newspaper The Guardian named Makhmalbaf among the forty best directors at work today.

[13] During the production of Asbe du-pa (Two Legged Horse), Makhmalbaf and her cast and crew suffered an attack while filming in Afghanistan.

Production stopped when a man who infiltrated the set as an extra tossed a hand grenade from the rooftop of a local bazaar.

In an interview, Makhmalbaf stated: "I saw little boys falling to the ground, and the whole street was full of blood... My first thought was that I wouldn't see my father anymore.

"[14] Determined to carry on, Makhmalbaf completed her film and held the initial release in 2008 in France.

[15] Makhmalbaf's films followed applied the doc-fiction hybrid aesthetic of her father's earlier work.

As reflected in her style, she strives to portray real-world political purpose, fully committed to exposing issues such as poverty.

In an interview with Indiewire, she is asked about the relationship between metaphor and reality in her film Blackboards.

[18] Mohsen Makhmalbaf says in an interview: "When I left the political organizations and moved into radio, Fatemeh came with me.

She talked about her film to the BBC: "I wanted to show reality, not the cliches on television saying that the US went to Afghanistan and rescued the people from the Taliban, that the US did a Rambo.

Though the Taliban have gone, their ideas are anchored in peoples' minds, in their traditions and culture, there is still a big difference between men and women in Afghanistan.

"[21] In an interview with the BBC, she discusses the difficulties women directors face in Iran.

I very much hope that in the advent of freedom and democracy, Iran can produce many more women directors.