My work deals with a wide range of subjects, from the emotional development of boys to humanitarian aid in the Congo. Though the themes of social justice and human relations run through all my films, I make a point of starting with a blank slate on each new project, with no axe to grind.
I gravitate toward people who are doing interesting work, who reach across cultural and political divides and defy easy categorization: A man swimming down the Hudson to call attention to environmental issues, aid workers in the Congo who learn it’s useless to feed the starving without giving them a better way to feed themselves, an Indian sports hero whose real accomplishments transcend his fame and his medals.
Once I have the subject(s) I still have to figure out the story. Stories don’t just tell themselves because the filmmaker fortuitously captures it and tells it. That may be a good definition of news reportage but, even so, it’s dangerous, because it makes unspoken assumptions about truth and objectivity.
All media makers manipulate “reality.” I aim for transparency in my films, inviting viewers to go on a journey with me – a journey that begins with certain stated assumptions, but which often ends up with entirely different conclusions. I have never made a film that turned out the way I expected it to. Twists, turns, and surprises – and what I learn from them – are the reasons that I keep doing what I do.
