Al Jazeera is demonized by the United States, yet in Egypt my father would be watching it.

I'm interested in characters that are complex people.

In making films, I'm constantly looking for people who are in conflict and who are going to surprise you and challenge you.

It's incredible to see the creativity, beauty and hardships people capture when filmmaking is opened up and shared with the world.

As the world is getting smaller, it becomes more and more important that we learn each other's dance moves, that we meet each other, we get to know each other, we are able to figure out a way to cross borders, to understand each other, to understand people's hopes and dreams, what makes them laugh and cry.

Al Jazeera is demonized by the United States, yet in Egypt my father would be watching it.

I have actually been very fortunate to be able to make films on my own credit card without having huge funders behind me dictating how the story should be told.