I thought, This is fabulous. It sent shivers up my spine. I thought, What kinds of people are these that would produce this kind of music in a camp? All the prison camp stories I've seen, and heard of, were about the heroism of men. As I researched this and heard the music, I realized that women were heroic too, on just as grand a scale. And their treatment was just as appalling.

It's not enough to hit the notes. There is no point in the singers just standing there and sounding wonderful if they're not connecting with the characters they are portraying.

At HBO, they seem to be well-informed. They make what I think are really quite mature films.

The music of the most popular operas is so highly esteemed, it can stand endless revivals.

Directing an opera is similar to directing a play. The singing must not get in the way of the drama.

I'd really been interested in opera when I was about 16, and I really like staging them.

In Australia, they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.