It's always been difficult for me to find funding for a story that I want to follow in real time. Financiers are hesitant to support a project when they don't know the outcome.

I was inspired by Maya Deren because she was the first woman filmmaker whose films I saw. I also loved Fellini and Goddard because they were so different from Hollywood films. But when I saw the cinema verite films that were made by Drew Associates with Leacock and Pennebaker I found my passion.

When I was growing up in the '50s, I had never heard of a "woman film director," so I did not consider it as an option. But I was fortunate that in the late-'60s and '70s, because of the feminist movement, women were stepping into all sorts of careers that had been closed to them in the past and film was one of them.

I have always thought that if you can give viewers the sense of being there a story can be very compelling.

If you love your craft there will be passion. Most of my films are with people who are really passionate about what they are doing and know how to do something well.

I am particularly pleased to see that there are so many women working in documentary film.

My favorite film is "Meshes in the Afternoon," a short avant garde film directed by Maya Deren. This was the first film that I saw that was actually directed by a woman.