People think women directors are tough. Truth is, I'm a pussycat and I hate conflict. I just want everyone to be happy on set.

For Europeans a president having an affair, especially in France, is a joke. No one cares, it would never bring this kind of trouble to a country.

Very quickly I realized that directing is a combination of things: It's visual, it's directing the actors, it's telling a story. And people don't always mention this part of directing, but it's also knowing how to really edit something into something that makes sense.

I don't know any woman in France who doesn't talk to firemen and smile at them, because they're always so sweet, and they're wearing those tight pants. Even my dad looks at their ass when they walk down the street!

Usually I'm able to imagine something and it comes out as I imagined, more or less.

Most of our life is miscommunication, and when you add a language barrier to it, it just becomes total mayhem and confusion... It just adds to it with all of the cultural differences. It could be an American family meeting another American family and you could still have a total clash. With family, it's like visiting another planet.

Few years ago, I said something about the Academy being very white male, which is the reality, and I was slashed to pieces by the media.