Mikel's Favorite Auteurs
Displaying auteurs 1 - 20 of 135 in total
Jafar Panahi
“In a world where films are made with millions of dollars, we made a film about a little girl who wants to buy a fish for less than a dollar.”
Larisa Shepitko
“Any interference by society in an adult’s personal life will be extremely dangerous until society itself becomes ideal. But in the ideal society interference in personal life will obviously be unnecessary.”
Shôhei Imamura
“I show true things using fictional techniques but maintaining truthfulness — that's where my approach differs from Ozu. He wanted to make film more aesthetic. I want to make it more real. He aspired toward a cinematic nirvana. When I was his assistant, I was very opposed to him, but now, whilst still not liking his films, I'm much more tolerant. As for me, I'd like to destroy this premise that cinema is fiction.”
Jean Cocteau
“Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail. ”
Lav Diaz
“You look at the industry; they’re distorting everything, its very escapist. It’s all about vanity, about making money, about seeking fame and fortune.”
Hou Hsiao-hsien
“The main thing is for the actors to forget the camera. They have to act as if they are working in a documentary.”
Maurice Pialat
“What I try to do, with the actors' consent, is to create something by beginning with a set situation that we can deviate from in the course of the shoot. ”
Roberto Rossellini
“I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism.”
Manoel de Oliveira
[Answering the questions: what keeps you going?] "There is no secret – it is work! It is doing something, it is a natural impulsion. My life is so complicated – I need space around me, I have so much going on and my house is small, and I need breathing space. I cannot seem to sort it out. I cannot either stretch time, or enlarge the house. That would take up precious time which I cannot afford."
Todd Solondz
“Some people will of course accuse me of misanthropy and cynicism. I can’t celebrate humanity but I’m not out to indict it either. I just want to expose certain truths.”
Allan King
“[Cinema-]verite is the most terrifying, challenging and, if it works, the most rewarding filmmaking experience. It's the next best thing to being a writer.”
François Ozon
“I think cinema has to deal with desire. In the cinema, you are with a big screen, it is dark, and you watch some images, like a fantasy, so I think it is important for you to feel desire for what you see.”
James Benning
“I have a very simple definition of an artist. The artist is someone who pays attention and reports back.”
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
“Many people went to see MEMORIES more than once, and some returned as many as four or five times. That does not happen with many movies. It makes me think that the film hit its mark, which was, first and foremost, to communicate with the Cuban public, not with audiences from other countries. It achieved its goal in the sense that it disturbed and unsettled its audience; it forced people to think.”
Yuriy Norshteyn
“Never allow oneself to remain the same – like a river, always renew yourself. I’m always wondering about the paths that would open animation to become a real dramatic art.”
