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.

I'm interested in characters that are complex people.

You know, Arabs are critical of United States foreign policy, but they also associate the U.S. with democratic principles and opportunity.

I've discovered I can't make a film about people I dislike.

When I hear the words 'activist filmmaking,' I think of somebody who's an activist, who wants to prove a particular point.

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.

Traveling around the world during the World Cup in 2006, I was thinking, 'Wow, this is such an incredible and global event.'