I'm someone who loves to play. I make films so I can have fun with the characters.

For me, being a director is about watching, not about telling people what to do. Or maybe it's like being a mirror; if they didn't have me to look at, they wouldn't be able to put the make-up on.

The Piano Lesson' is very sophisticated, easily the most adult or complex material I've attempted. It's the first film I've written that has a proper story, and it was a big struggle for me to write. It meant I had to admit the power of narrative.

A message I've been telling myself: the cinema is very conservative, and unless you have a story that satisfies you, that is within the unchallenging zone, but you love it, you can't do it as cinema. Otherwise, you better go do it for television, which is more daring now.

I can't imagine people telling me what to do - I just can't imagine it.

I'm someone who loves to play. I make films so I can have fun with the characters.

When you first fall in love it's so thrilling, you can't wait to throw yourself away and make this new wonderful twosome.