Everything I do is always scrutinised. But that's all I'll say about that.

Because many advances have happened, we've lost the urgency (and that's just human nature) that we had before, when we couldn't vote, couldn't use mass transportation, or drink from the fountains.

You know that first of all your films have to make money no matter who you are.

I'm worried just as much about Donald Trump as that crazy guy in North Korea - and he has a nuclear code. I'm worrying about that.

I live in New York City, the stories of my films take place in New York; I'm a New York filmmaker.

Critics like to build you up, tear you down, and then, if you're lucky, build you up again.

You gotta make your own way. You gotta find a way. You gotta get it done. It's hard. It's tough. That's what I tell my students every day in class. I've been very fortunate. Some people might call me a hardhead, but I'm not going to let other people dictate to me who I should be or the stories I should tell. That doesn't register with me.