Criminals are never very amusing. It's because they're failures. Those who make real money aren't counted as criminals. This is a class distinction, not an ethical problem.

[I have a] fondness for telling stories, like the Arab storytellers on the marketplace. ... I will never grow tired of [telling] stories [and] I make the mistake of thinking that everyone has the same enthusiasm!

The first thing one must remember about film is that it is a young medium. And it is essential for every responsible artist to cultivate the ground that has been left fallow.

My kind of director is an actor-director who writes.

I worry a lot about taking care of my dependents, all those perfectly ordinary middle-class preoccupations.

A good artist should be isolated. If he isn't isolated, something is wrong.

I have a great love and respect for religion, great love and respect for atheism. What I hate is agnosticism, people who do not choose.