My advice to first time filmmakers is believe in yourself and the message you want to give in the film you are making.

If you're making a film, the one thing I've learned is you have to pick somebody really well-known to make it relevant.

I think the most important is believing in yourself and being passionate about everything you do in life.

I learned how to make a documentary by having a good team around me. My editors (and co-writers)Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt and Frédéric Tcheng were very helpful.

Shred the fake mask of humility into pieces. And put on the mask of arrogance if needed.

[R]eal charity doesn't mean giving away someone else's money.

Fortune makes our virtues and vices visible, just as light does the objects of sight.

Who dares to be intellectual in the presence of death?

I'll stick to building ships.

Things that can't go on forever... don't.

For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves.

It is worse that a crime, it is a blunder. [Fr., C'est plus qu'un crime, c'est une faute.]

Facility is an obstacle to any creativeness. In any art form. You get a nice effect without effort, sometimes by accident, and you're satisfied; but there's nothing substantial underneath.

[Director Richard Tanne] was inspired by their [Barack and Michelle Obama] flirtation, and their connection. That's not normal with politicians who are married - they usually look forced or awkward.