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.

I choose material instinctually - at the heart of it are characters that I feel are fresh and original, and allow for an opportunity to, I suppose, explore uncharted ground.

It's irrelevant who or what directed a movie; the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don't.

I'm drawn to filmmaking that can transport me. Film can immerse you, put you there.

I began to exercise a lot of cinematic muscle with the precepts I had learned in the New York art world. Film was intriguing. I began to think of art as elitist, whereas film was not.

I can't stand outside myself and be anybody else.

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.