I used to be very controlling with visuals and editing, and I would pretty much craft the performances; now I have learned to trust the material and the actors.

We're born first humans then after they stamp our passport.

The long takes process doesn't allow for that many takes. In the past I have shot over 50 takes of different shots. Sometimes you end up using take 64, sometimes take four.

You can write a whole fiction, and you're talking to people who have gone through that, in real life. But the truth of it is that when you're talking to those people, you don't care about your movie anymore. You just want to hear about what they have gone through. You want all of the details. It's amazing.

I find it very stupid that teenagers could only see caricatures of teenagers but they couldn't see films that you try to be a truthful context, a truthful portrayal of teenagers.

Story is important but the most important is the theme and how you're going to convey theme cinematically. I'm a believer also.

I'm very aware that the future of any film is not necessarily the theatrical experience, it's the home video experience because that is the one that is going to be presented for years to come. So you want to make sure that you push your movie, but you're talking about a movie that you finished months ago. And your head is trying to move into new grounds and you're still pushing for the other one. That's the tough element of it.