Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could delve into the thorny subjects of our time.

Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people.

I did a pilot for Anything But Love in 1988 that didn't sell.

One should make morals judgements for oneself.

When I made my first film, I didn't think of it as directing, so it wasn't like I set out to become a director.

The Communist regime didn't consider this to be a shining moment in history and assigned no heroism to it. They classified it as merely an accident.

Perhaps the only thing in my favor is that I am very tenacious. I don't take 'no' very well.