Much as I like getting awards in Oldenburg, Germany and Torino, it's nice to get one in America.

Much as I like getting awards in Oldenburg, Germany and Torino, it's nice to get one in America.

Most of my movies get about a third raves, a third vicious attacks, and a third in-between.

I think there's a general sense that the belief structures that existed and carried civilization forward have weakened to the point where they can no longer support it. They are not powerful enough to do it anymore because there is not enough serious belief in them.

What am I hanging around for? But I'm hanging around because it's still fun.

I think that one of the things that is happening in the so-called "clash of civilizations" is that the confidence that was once obvious in the Western Judeo-Christian tradition has been weakened tremendously. There's a feeling that there's a cynical, corporate layer that's really driving it - one that's ready to compromise - and that the real confident energy around the world is coming from Islam, that the believers take their own faith at face value and with great confidence and in far greater numbers.

The collaborator has to be someone who understands that his role is to help you articulate what you want, but at the same time is not just going to be mechanically obeying, but adding to, supplementing, and coming up with stuff.