Being in a group is a way to actually to speak up, and define yourself in the comfort, and the complexity of the group.

Obviously, I can't tell the story of what it is to be a black girl, but maybe I can tell something else. Girlhood is not about what it's like to be a black girl, it's about what it's like to be a girl.

I think all movies are political. The ones that are not political intentionally are the worst, and have the worst politics, I think.

I was a lot younger - when I wrote Water Lilies. I was like 26. It felt so natural to write about adolescence.

I want to try different genres. I think I'll still be looking at a strong female character in the center, and identity struggle and transformation.

I intentionally leave adults out in my stories, not to say that they're not in charge or that they don't care, or that they're failing at what they do. Not at all. It's two things: It's a way to be true to what adolescence feels like, because, okay, your parents may be around, but you still don't want them to be around. What you go through, you go through alone, I think.

I think I like about coming-of-age stories is that there's everything in them. It's a genre that kind of contains everything: you have the chronicle, you can go into naturalism, but it's also about transforming physically, so it's kind of a fantastical genre.