Movies, as evidenced by a chorus of protesting and celebrating Americans, influence broader trends.

I would love to have been a documentary filmmaker; I just didn't have the resources to do that.

Many people are afraid to talk about race because it's so emotionally loaded. We don't have the vocabulary to talk about it. Every day, our vocabulary seems more and more inadequate.

President Obama called for a 'we' nation in his Inauguration Address. Art convenes. It is not just inspirational. It is aspirational. It pricks the walls of our compartmentalized minds, opens our hearts and makes us brave. And that's what we need most in our country today.

I never know when somebody's going to knock on the door of my own unconscious in a way that I wouldn't have anticipated.

If I do three interviews in a day, I can be exhausted, because the process of hearing everyone requires that I empty out myself. While I'm listening, my own judgments and prejudices certainly come up. But I know I won't get anything unless I get those things out of the way.

Confidence is the mark of a hopeful disposition.