I looked to many, many filmmakers. I was influenced by the Neo-Realists, and by the Cuban, and the Latin American cinema, the '70s, European experimental work. And fortunately, all those influences gave me the strength to think, "I can make my way. I'm a creative person, I can try to create a way that is uniquely mine because I've seen so much, and I've experienced so much."

I'm making a kind of a memoir of certain aspects and times in my life. Now that I'm older I can look back and analyze some things, and see the root of things.

I have different interests, and what happens with making a film is that you're going to live with it for a long time, so it better be something that has some staying power. I'm usually inspired by - it could be anything. In one instance, one of the things I was inspired by was something that was happening in my family - the drama that happens in a family, or an unsolvable crime, like Senorita Extraviada.

I've done experimental work, I've done real conventional documentaries that were very successful, like Las Madres that was nominated for an Academy Award. And, from that moment on I felt like, "Okay, I can make that. Now where am I going to go?"

My McQueen particularly was hard to make, because my father was dying. I see it, and I see my confusion, my pain, my everything. I thought that it was really interesting to be able to put the people from behind the camera in front of the camera as they make it.

Even though I make documentaries, everyone's acting in a way. Really. And you're creating, and you're confabulating things. You can't relive reality, you can just present it. And that's what I do. I have worked with actors and I like it very much, so maybe. I think that would be wonderful to do something like that, as well.

I looked to many, many filmmakers. I was influenced by the Neo-Realists, and by the Cuban, and the Latin American cinema, the '70s, European experimental work. And fortunately, all those influences gave me the strength to think, "I can make my way. I'm a creative person, I can try to create a way that is uniquely mine because I've seen so much, and I've experienced so much."