I remember my dad came from Ireland and Scotland, and so he carried with him the fear of poverty. So when I wanted to break loose, it kind of made him very nervous.

I didn't think about politics until I came to Europe.

It's an honor putting art above politics. Politics can be seductive in terms of things reductive to the soul.

I think independent filmmakers, documentary filmmakers - they are journalists.

Criticism challenges current findings. The effort to defend one's position can lead to deeper insights or consideration of options previously not considered.

What really matters is the work. And what matters to me is doing the work. I'm not looking at the back end: "What am I going to get out of this? What's going to be the reward?" I'm just looking at the work, the pleasure of being able to do the work. And that's what the fun is: To climb up the mountain is the fun, not standing at the top. There's nowhere to go. But climbing up, that struggle, that to me is where the fun is. That to me is the thrill. But once that's over, that's kind of it. I don't look too much beyond that.

Ideas aren't real estate, they grow collectively and that knocks out the egotistical loneliness that generally infects art.