So I decided to make a film about our need to tell stories, to own our stories, to understand them, and to have them heard.

I do tend to take time off. A year and a half ago I went to film school, and before that I had taken years off at a time to be involved politically or this or that.

Well, because Dawn of the Dead can take place anywhere and it shows that actually the entire planet is contaminated, I would say that it shows the new face of our world - one person, one race, united against the invisible destructive force.

We're in this space right now where things are very precarious for women and things in the States are so terrifying. There are so many rollbacks of rights women have gained - and it can happen quickly, more quickly than we think. I think it would be good for us to think back and ahead to protect the space we're in.

I feel like we want women to be simpler, less complex, so we project a lot of versions of simplicity onto them to fit that.

I enjoy doing my more intimate and less commercial pictures and also I enjoy directing.

Plus, doing a zombie movie is quite liberating. It's fun not to take myself seriously all the time.