Filmmaking is exploring. Why would I want to make a film about something I already understand?

I won't make shorthand films, because I don't want to manipulate audiences into assuming quick, manufactured truths.

Film is, to me, just unimportant. But people are very important.

I’m very worried about the depiction of women on the screen. It’s gotten worse than ever and it’s related to their being either high- or low-class concubines, and the only question is when or where they will go to bed, with whom, and how many. There’s nothing to do with the dreams of women, or of woman as the dream, nothing to do with the quirky part of her, the wonder of her.

We don't take the time to be vulnerable with each other

To me there is a name for each person. I think it’s marvelous to have a name. A woman is not a woman. It’s either Gena or my mother or some other person.

I'm not good at comparing and contrasting. I take what's in front of me for what it is, although I guess there's something about Paul's realistic writing that is like Cassavetes.