There are times when you have to face your enemies, sit down and deal with it.

I think all the great studio filmmakers are dead or no longer working. I don't put myself, my friends, and other contemporary filmmakers in their category. I just see us doing some work.

Any film, or to me any creative endeavour, no matter who you're working with, is, in many cases, a wonderful experience.

You have to put yourself in a situation, a lifestyle, that makes you do the work. Even if it's a monastery.

What the Dalai Lama had to resolve was whether to stay in Tibet or leave. He wanted to stay, but staying would have meant the total destruction of Tibet, because he would have died and that would have ripped the heart out of his people.

We cannot burn Mick Jagger. We want the effect, but we can't burn him.

Young film makers should learn how to deal with the money and learn how to deal with the power structure. Because it is like a battle.