When you are part of a cartel, you don't have a Costco card that says, 'I'm a card-carrying member of the cartel.'
— Matthew Heineman
I was fascinated by what happens when government institutions fail and citizens take the law into their own hands.
If you're going to see 'City of Ghosts' because you want to understand everything about the Syrian conflict and how to fix it, then it's the wrong film to see.
I have faith in an audience being able to interpret complex material.
My favorite way of making films - and what has allowed me to get key scenes in 'Cartel Land' and 'City of Ghosts' - has been when I've been able to operate alone.
Too often, we rely on other people - whether it be politicians or institutions - to effect change.
I'm not a war reporter.
The amount of money that's being put into long-form investigative journalism has become less and less.
We have this fascination that more is better, and we - what we learned was more isn't better ; that more care can actually hurt you. That fascination with the quick fix is often hurting us. One-third of health-care spending doesn't even improve health care.
