Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami says he is not out to challenge authorities with his films although they have been banned in his country for 10 years.
Abbas Kiarostami won the Palme d'Or in 1997
He said officials in Iran could never believe there were no complex hidden messages in his film.
"My objective is not to test the limits of censorship," he said.
He said there was no chance of Iran honouring his work in the way the V&A Museum in London was hosting a retrospective in his honour.
He added that Iran's ban on him and other directors was at "status quo".
"Nobody is doing anything to change it," he said. "I have accepted it as a reality".
Kiarostami, who won the Cannes Palme d'Or in 1997, says that his films offer simple messages, such as the lack of rights of women in 2002's Ten.
"Ironically, even in these simple films the (Iranian) authorities think there must be a complex hidden message behind it," Kiarostami said.
"What you need to appreciate is that the authorities have neither a quarrel with me nor my films. They have a quarrel with the audience of my films.
"It is because they as a group represent a force - that is why they are perceived as being a possible problem."
The exhibition at the V&A, featuring installation art and photography, runs until 19 June.