I don't know if I thrive in normal life.
— Kathryn Bigelow
I need to have my hands on the DNA of a film.
I can't stand outside myself and be anybody else.
It's irrelevant who or what directed a movie; the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don't.
I like to be strong.
I'm definitely not drawn to shooting on a stage, I'm just not.
I'm interested in social commentary.
For some individuals - some soldiers, some contractors - combat provides a kind of purpose and meaning beyond which all else potentially pales in comparison.
I've always developed all my own pieces, and they're time-consumers.
There's a conventional reaction when you see a star: You anticipate he'll be a part of a particular denouement down the road, so you don't worry for that character.
I suppose I like to think of myself as a film-maker.
You never think the universe will reward your first choice - it just doesn't work like that.
When I made my first film, I didn't think of it as directing, so it wasn't like I set out to become a director.
The urge to purge the material I come up with is, I guess, an ongoing process.
Right now, there's the illusion of order and civilization, but there's a tremendous amount of economic tension in this country and the educational system is constantly eroding.
One of the elements in the film that really fascinated me was not to look at the world in bi-polar terms of us vs them or east vs west, which was a by-product of the Cold War.
If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.
I thrive on production. It feels very much like a natural environment for me.
I choose material instinctually - at the heart of it are characters that I feel are fresh and original, and allow for an opportunity to, I suppose, explore uncharted ground.
I really look for peak experiences and dramatic material that can allow peak experiences.
I began to exercise a lot of cinematic muscle with the precepts I had learned in the New York art world. Film was intriguing. I began to think of art as elitist; film was not.
You have to disengage at some point in order to be fresh.
I don't do what I do to try and break a glass ceiling.
I'm drawn to filmmaking that can transport me. Film can immerse you, put you there.
Jordan is a very secular, Westernized country in some respects.
Perhaps the only thing in my favor is that I am very tenacious. I don't take 'no' very well.
There's really no difference between what I do and what a male filmmaker might do. I mean we all try to make our days, we all try to give the best performances we can, we try to make our budget, we try to make the best movie we possibly can.
My dad used to draw these great cartoon figures. His dream was being a cartoonist, but he never achieved it, and it kind of broke my heart. I think part of my interest in art had to do with his yearning for something he could never have.
Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people.
When he brought it to me four years ago, Rodney King had just arrived, I was involved in the clean-up of L.A. and I guess it was part of my experience.
The Communist regime didn't consider this to be a shining moment in history and assigned no heroism to it. They classified it as merely an accident.
Our film examines the heroism, courage and prowess of the Soviet submarine force in ways never seen before.
On the other hand, I believe there's hope, because the breakdown and the repair are happening simultaneously.
I think violence in a cinematic context can be, if handled in a certain way, very seductive.
It's totally thrilling to direct.
My interest is to work in as uncompromised a way as possible.
Cinema has the capacity to be so physiological.
I realised that there's a more muscular approach to film-making that I found very inspiring.
Am I a 'woman of action'? I don't think of myself that way.
What's most galvanizing for me is the opportunity to be topical and relevant and entertaining. That's the holy grail.
The journey for women, no matter what venue it is - politics, business, film - it's, it's a long journey.
You only have so much money to shoot a movie with.
I do have to say I have been very fortunate.
I'm drawn to provocative characters that find themselves in extreme situations. And I think I'm drawn to that consistently.
War's dirty little secret is that some men love it.
When James Cameron brought me the script, which I developed with both Cameron and Jay Cocks, I wanted to make it a thriller, an action film, but with a conscience, and I found that it had elements of social realism.
There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible.
Something becomes personal when it deviates from the norm.
One should make morals judgements for oneself.
My movement from painting to film was a very conscious one.
