I think that in some cases, I've made films that have a sentimental quality, at least as part of the film.

Even when you're making a movie about life, death is a presence, and I guess it's part of my dramatic viewpoint. I'm not sure why exactly.

I don't think American independent films have ever really been particularly experimental, except for the original guys from the '60s who were huge influences, like Stan Brakhage, Robert Breer, and Stan van der Beek. They were the true independents.

I'm usually trying to react to what the actors are coming up with. And then the environment, and then the story.

If a movie isn't released, it's one thing, but if you know it will be, it's nice to have closure and see it come out.

I think that in some cases, I've made films that have a sentimental quality, at least as part of the film.

I was petrified because all my friends would be going to Washington, DC, to protest. I was sixteen, and I was like, "I don't think I'll be going with you guys," just because I was scared. Then you saw the news, and cops - not students in schools with guns - cops are killing sixteen year old protesters on the news. To me that was more horrifying, to have the authority figures actually killing people on the evening news, than to have another student firing a gun.