All of the films that I've made are about the country I live in and grew up in... And I think if you're going to put an artist's eye to it, you're going to put a critical eye to it. I've always been interested in the gray area that exists between the black and white, or the red and blue, and that's where complexity lies.

I think documentary filmmakers need as much protection as possible under journalist's privilege. How else is the public to know what is going on?

...if our humanity - our soul as a society - is overtaken by the materiel and cosmetic, there will be no hope of peace.

I love making films more than anything, but it's tough.

The meter is ticking [particularly in the face of climate change], so you've got to get to as much as you can as fast as you can. I grew up with 'This Land Is Our Land,' and public land doesn't belong to that administration or this one. We want our kids to grow up with real natural places, not just photos of them.

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

The big moment for me was making 'All the President's Men'. It was not about Watergate or President Nixon. I wanted to focus on something I thought not many people knew about: How do journalists get the story?