I could never have gone to Africa another way and had the same experience. It was my job and my joy at the same time.

I never acted in anything I've directed but I have produced a number of films and I have acted in some of the movies I've produced. Usually with first time filmmakers and pushing a move forward I have played a small role but never the lead.

When I was a kid, the only way I saw movies was from the back seat of my family's car at the drive-in.

We have to not just open our eyes to what's going on in other places; we need to open our eyes to what's going on right in front of us.

There are people [in Uganda] who hate Idi Amin, a small amount. And then there are the people who really admire him, like a hero. And then there's a large group who say, 'We know that all these murders and atrocities occurred, but he did all these great things.'

Trying to understand, inside, what it is to be Ugandan was crucial to the character, because there are Ugandan ways of doing things that I was trying to capture. Even if I had made this movie in South Africa, it would not have been the same, because it is so specific to Uganda.

In a lot of films, they're showing more complete, developed characters of diverse ethnic backgrounds. The larger concern is to be able to tastefully explore the stereotypes, and still move past them to see the core of people.