Traveling around the world during the World Cup in 2006, I was thinking, 'Wow, this is such an incredible and global event.'

It's incredible to see the creativity, beauty and hardships people capture when filmmaking is opened up and shared with the world.

I'll continue making films because I love being able to drop into other people's worlds. My goal is to be constantly learning.

I'm interested in characters that are complex people.

In making films, I'm constantly looking for people who are in conflict and who are going to surprise you and challenge you.

It's important in any project to remain focused.

I have actually been very fortunate to be able to make films on my own credit card without having huge funders behind me dictating how the story should be told.

When I hear the words 'activist filmmaking,' I think of somebody who's an activist, who wants to prove a particular point.

You know, Arabs are critical of United States foreign policy, but they also associate the U.S. with democratic principles and opportunity.

Al Jazeera is demonized by the United States, yet in Egypt my father would be watching it.

I've discovered I can't make a film about people I dislike.

I never thought a little time and space would turn into miles and worlds apart

Only you can decide what you become.

Knowing something is not as good as liking it. Liking something is not as good as rejoicing in it.

Body odor is the window to the soul.

The people on this planet who end up doing nothing are those who never realized they couldn't do everything.

Men, in whatever anxiety they may be, if they are men, sometimes indulge in relaxation.

Extremists on the left tend to be just as critical of pragmatism as extremists on the right.

If you believe that weight loss requires self-deprivation, Im going to teach you otherwise.

It's the Night of the Living Dead. It's scary out here.

Like one time I was a fish in Noah's Ark and now I'm in Harry Potter, a big step.