Creative Freedom Is An Imperative

I Often Begin Movies With Music In My Head; It's A Very Important Dimension To Me. Not Just The Music Itself, But How To Use Music In Film: When And How And Subtlety. I Don't Like To Be Too Sweet In My Stories, And I Like The Abrasive Clang, The Contrasting Of Sounds And Cultures.

They Say Now In America That Final Cut Doesn't Mean Anything. As Harvey Weinstein Said To Some Film-maker, 'you Can Have Final Cut. I'll Open Your Film In Arkansas.'

I Look For The Humanity In People, However Big The Politics Or Oppressive The Situation May Be, Whether It's Subsumed Within A Human Being Or Between Two Human Beings. I Want To Help Us Hold A Mirror To Ourselves.

You Know, The Sad Thing Of Post-9/11, Which Was Of Course Horrific, Was That The City In Which I Felt Completely At Home For Two Decades, Suddenly People Like Us - Brown People - Were Looked At As The 'others.'

Humility Is Not A Trait I Often Associate With America.