I used to do volunteer work in poor areas of Cairo, and people would gather their money together to get a satellite dish. You'd see them huddling around and for the first time seeing issues being debated on TV that had never been talked about before. And that is the biggest promoter of democracy you could possibly have.

I'm interested in characters that are complex people.

Al Jazeera is one entity that everyone across the Arab world watches. Arabs are proud of that.

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

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

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

If you can laugh with somebody and relate to somebody, it becomes harder to dehumanize them. I think that most of what we are constantly bombarded with in terms of media leads you to a creation of 'the Other' and a dehumanization of 'the Other,' and it's very much an us-versus-them conversation.