I meet all these American filmmakers that film for months and months, and it's a mystery to me. I couldn't make a film like that. I have to be very clear in what I'm doing and where it's going, and be very disciplined about what I film.

I want every scene to feel electric and I try to finish the filming period with a clear trajectory: a beginning, a middle, and hopefully an end.I hate "fly on the wall." It infers that I don't relate to the people we're with and that I don't get affected by events. I like it when people talk to me. I never say things like "Don't look at the camera" - how bossy!

Those are the films I want to make. I don't want to make a film about, "Oh, those poor prostitutes!" Or "Oh, isn't it terrible in Chicago!" I want to make a film where people think, "Brenda's like me!"

I don't have any advice at all. I think we all make the films that reflect the kind of people we are; we all make such different films. There's not just one way of doing it.

I remember very clearly when I found my first soulmate, it was actually in my late 20s, that wonderful feeling of being accepted by people.

I know that sounds contradictory - you're going on a journey, but once you know who your characters are, you become more disciplined and you film less and less.

Personally, I don't like watching films about victims - people where you're meant to think, 'Oh, this is terrible,' and you go home feeling really depressed.