My films are expressive of a culture that has had the possibility of attaining material fulfillment while at the same time finding itself unable to accomplish the simple business of conducting human lives. We have been sold a bill of goods as a substitute for life. What is needed is reassurance in human emotions; a re-evaluation of our emotional capacities.

During the actual filming, I’m not really listening to dialogue. I’m watching to see if the actors are communicating something and expressing something. I’m just watching a conversation. You’re not aware of exactly what people are saying. You are aware of what they are INTENDING and what kind of feeling is going on in that scene.

(Acting) is an extension of life. How you're capable of performing in your life, that's how you're capable of performing on screen.

Art films aren't necessarily photography. It's feeling. If we can capture a feeling of a people, of a way of life, then we made a good picture.

You can defeat fear through humor, through pain, through honesty, bravery, intuition, and through love in the truest sense.

An artist can accomplish anything provided he doesn't accept facts or defeat for more than a few minutes.

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