It is not as though the process of production holds any mystery for me, I know exactly what it involves and I know the predominant concern in shooting one of those things is production values – or as they would say, seeing it all up there on screen.

People make decisions that may have one intent and yet are somehow perverted into something else. And sometimes it’s because of design. Sometimes it’s because of happenstance. But very often, it’s mysterious to them.

April 24th was another commemoration of the genocide of Armenia people by Turkey. The perpetrator never admitted the crime. I was raised with that, this question: how do you actually find the truth of such a traumatic event? I’m obsessed with that issue.

It was very important that it be done in such a way that it be executed with complete conviction. If I had done it both ways, if I was trying to cover myself in case it didn’t work, then it would have been to no purpose.

Every actor has a different temperament. Part of my job is to know what those boundaries are. The actor has to know you’ll be there at the other end, that you’re trying to represent them in the best light, who they are as they’re harnessing these roles. The methods vary from actor to actor.

Though I am still very vulnerable to audiences – and it happens all the time – where for some reason the energy doesn’t connect and, since the film is very personal, obviously I am made to feel very vulnerable by that.

I believe my signal of maturity as a filmmaker iswhen I’ll actually acknowledge the fact that the first take is usuallythe best.

We’re lucky to be making films. My crew and I have been working together for a long time. I think that that’s what emanates.

I think ultimately if you have a very high expectation of your audience and you know exactly what it is you’re trying to express through the medium of film, there will always be an audience for you.

That’s a very odd notion because it involves seeing money up there on the screen – if something cost $5 million to make, they want to see that $5 million up there.