Quotes by Zal Batmanglij - Page 2

I think it's really important that you don't get caught up in the way the filmmaking community isolates you and the way your life ends up being.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Caught
Filmmaking
Life Community Your
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I think about a lot of my favorite directors, and I think about their first films, and I have great admiration for the earthiness of those films.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Admiration
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Any director who's willing to be brave not only in terms of subject matter but also in terms of being emotional and moving you is what inspires me.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Be Brave
Subject Matter
Inspires
Copy Quote
I think if there's anything 2016 has taught me, it's that we have a real hard time with women in our society; we have a hard time with the feminine.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Feminine
Time Women Society
Hard Time
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I guess it the one consistent thing in my life was that sense of magic that film provide - I still remember the movies from my childhood that I loved.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Consistent
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Sarah Polley's 'Stories We Tell,' James Ponsoldt's 'The Spectacular Now,' Destin Daniel Cretton's 'Short Term 12' - these are really important movies.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Spectacular
Daniel
James
Sarah
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We lived on anarchist farms, squatted in the inner city, and hopped rail cars. We wanted to see how other young people were creating meaning from their lives.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Anarchist
Farms
Inner City
Rail
City People See
Inner
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In film, it is always collaborative, and so to me, it doesn't make sense to not be collaborative in one of its most critical arenas - which is the screenplay.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Arenas
Me Always Film
Screenplay
Copy Quote
People are frustrated all over the country, whether they're in Oklahoma or Oregon or San Diego or San Francisco or L.A. or D.C. or New York or Omaha or wherever.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Frustrated
Oklahoma
Omaha
Oregon
San Diego
People New Country
Diego
Francisco
Country People New
San
Copy Quote
I think if I was interested in writing on my own, I would be a novelist - then you could write about yourself, and that would be it. You wouldn't need anyone else.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Anyone Else
Novelist
Copy Quote
To make 'Sound of My Voice,' we had to conceive the entire world and understand it holistically. If you want to show less in a movie, you've got to figure out more.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Conceive
Entire World
Copy Quote
The beauty of 'The OA' or 'Stranger Things' is that they are both made by Netflix for Netflix. And so there was a freedom all of a sudden that matched our intention.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Intention
Matched
Stranger
Sudden
Copy Quote
I don't understand how our story can be so bonkers, but 'Captain Marvel' isn't. A lot of the ideas in 'The OA' that seem outlandish are just normalizing as the years go by.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Outlandish
Captain
Marvel
Copy Quote
I think that the campaign that Fox Searchlight has thrown for 'Sound of My Voice' honors the film's roots and the film's integrity, and I don't think it overwhelms the film at all.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Integrity
Roots
Thrown
Fox
Honors
Copy Quote
You just have to make sure you keep living your life, challenging yourself, putting yourself in unusual experiences, thinking about what you're interested in doing, and going there.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Unusual
Life Thinking Yourself
Experiences
Putting
Copy Quote
We're taught that food in a dumpster is waste. But when you find bags of bread that are perfectly good, all of a sudden that waste turns into bounty. That's an important shift in perception.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Bags
Bounty
Bread
Perception
Turns
Waste
Good Food Important
Perfectly
Shift
Sudden
Copy Quote
We entered 'Lucid Grey' into the Georgetown festival on April 27, 2001. Now 'Sound of My Voice' is opening on April 27, 11 years later. It couldn't have happened in a more perfectly cinematic way.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
April
Cinematic
Grey
Opening
Sound
Voice
Entered
Festival
Later
Lucid
Perfectly
Copy Quote
I always think that 'Sound of My Voice' is a movie about the crumbs in 'Hansel and Gretel.' You know, those crumbs. It's about finding your way out of the claustrophobia and alienation of modern life.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Alienation
Crumbs
Modern Life
Sound
Voice
Life Always Your
Life Your Voice
Finding
Life Way Always
Copy Quote
I remember in grade school having a group of friends and enjoying that sense of community, enjoying living in an imaginary world that wasn't just by yourself or your sibling but a whole group of people.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Imaginary
Imaginary World
Sibling
Enjoying
Grade School
Copy Quote
What I'm drawn to most as a filmmaker are these tribes that are seen as 'fringe' cultures. We live in a society where many young people feel alienated, and these family constructs are an antidote to that.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Antidote
Constructs
Fringe
Tribes
Alienated
Cultures
Copy Quote
I think we're really hungry for family in America, especially when I feel like people are really pulled apart from their families. So, we were interested in the idea of what the extreme version of that would be.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
America
Ideas
Thinking
Copy Quote
I stay away from the writing part because I think that if it sticks, it sticks. You just know it. The stuff that doesn't stick, goes away. The stuff that propels you forward, you can see it in your partner's eyes.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Eye
Thinking
Writing
Copy Quote
We want to make a 100 million dollar movie that we have created, in the way James Cameron or Chris Nolan does. It's so inspiring when high-quality auteurs are writing and directing those movies. That's pretty cool.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Inspiring
Cameron
High Quality
Nolan
Chris
Directing
Dollar
James
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Even in 'The OA,' we had to follow Guild requirements and put 'directed by' and the credits, and I'm embarrassed to put my name every time. I mean, who cares. Look it up on the Internet if you want to know who made it.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Embarrassed
Requirements
Who Cares
Cares
Credits
Directed
Every Time
Guild
Time Look Internet
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That's the key thing I learned from making 'The East': It doesn't matter what happens in your life, good or bad. What matters is that there's a group around you to catch you when you fall and push you back up a little bit.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Life Good Your
Back Up
Catch
Copy Quote
I don't think we set out to make 'The East' in order to necessarily change people's hearts; I don't know how much movies actually change people's hearts. We wanted to make something that was thrilling and got you to thinking.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Thrilling
Copy Quote
The first time I ever tried edamame, I thought it was gross. I didn't understand the hairy skin. It didn't taste good to me. Now I scarf down a bowl of edamame when I sit down at a restaurant, and I don't think twice about it.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Gross
Time Good Me
Bowl
Hairy
Restaurant
Scarf
Copy Quote
People don't really believe that their computer or sneakers are made by small hands, a child's hands, or a person who is living such a miserable life. They somehow think that, no, that person has a tough life, but it's an OK life.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Miserable
Sneakers
Tough Life
Copy Quote
I don't know if any specific religion is the one to subscribe to. I'm not saying, one way or the other. I don't want to get involved in that. But, I think having faith in this experience we are having as a group of people on Earth helps a lot.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Experience
Religion
Earth
Groups
Involved
People
Thinking
Faith Religion People
Lot
Any
Group
Having
Helps
Saying
Specific
Subscribe
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'The Terminator' is grounded in so much realism. It's again a story that centers around a woman that isn't a 'woman's picture' necessarily. I found it really thrilling, both 'Terminator 1' and '2.' When you watch it it's such fine storytelling.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Grounded
Realism
Storytelling
Thrilling
Centers
Terminator
Copy Quote
And if you were a very sophisticated con artist, what would you do to convince people that you were from the future? What benefits would that give you? For us, it's also a question of, "Is she or isn't she?" That's really a major part of the movie.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Artist
Giving
People
Copy Quote
We would meet truck drivers, and they were like, ''Orange Is the New Black' is my favorite show.' And we're like, 'What? This looks like a Red State, Trump-voting guy, and he loves 'Orange Is the New Black?'' I think that's the power of storytelling.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Drivers
Orange
Truck
Favorite Show
Copy Quote
Group think and groups in general allow you to more fully give yourself to something other than yourself and your betterment - to feel a sense of belonging. Now is this a good thing? I don't know, but it's something that is longed for, at least by me.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Belonging
Betterment
Good Yourself Your
Good Thing
Good Me Yourself
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It really ups your production value when you have one person that you can use as your avatar through a story, but I think everyone gets their moment in time. That other couple definitely has their moment too, and they have to make some tough decisions.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Couple
Decision
Thinking
Copy Quote
I think that all the powerful religions are pretty much the same. People like to pretend they are very different, but they are not. They are really about believing in something bigger than yourself, something that's unseen, and about having some faith.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Unseen
Believing
Religions
Pretend
Copy Quote
It doesn't really matter what someone's hair looks like or if the sound is perfect. Every director who's made a couple of movies knows that, because you can replace the sound. Or, like, any one shot is not that important, because they all add up together.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Add
Looks
Shot
Replace
Copy Quote
I loved 'Terminator 2' as a teenager and 'Sound of Music' when I was a kid. I also loved 'Requiem For A Dream' as a college student and 'Mulholland Drive.' And I have loved 'Lincoln' as an adult. They are all the same, as they are all good stories and extraordinary actors.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Requiem
Sound Of Music
Teenager
College Student
Good Stories
Lincoln
Terminator
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I wanted to be a filmmaker, so my parents helped me by encouraging me to save my allowance. So I bought my first video camera, and I would make movies, but I never made a movie that I finished until I was in college. There was no expectation, but I would make movies every day.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Encouraging
Allowance
Filmmaker
Video
Movies Me Day
Bought
Camera
Expectation
Helped
Save
Video Camera
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At AFI, you make three cycle films your first year, and then you make a thesis film your second year, and I watched Darren Aronofsky's cycle films and was blown away - there was a young Lucy Liu, who was just part of that generation. And I just wanted to be part of that tradition.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Blown Away
Lucy
Thesis
Blown
Cycle
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When I was 17, I grew from being something like 5'2'' to 6 foot - I grew a lot - and I don't remember growing... I feel like the same thing is true of writing. You're waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney, but you just fall asleep at some point, and then the magic happens.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Santa
Santa Claus
Asleep
Chimney
Foot
Copy Quote
A film set is all about hierarchy, but I always like to think about the circus. In the circus, there's this real sense of tribalism, and they're all on the road together. I don't think the ring leader is more important than the clown. They all work together, and I think that I felt that on 'The East.'
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Circus
Clown
Film Set
Hierarchy
Work Together Important
Work Together Always
Real Sense
Work Together
Copy Quote
I remember being a kid, I was a little kid when my dad took me to 'Munchausen.' I guess he took my whole family, but I kind of didn't want to go for some reason. Then we got there, and I was so mesmerized by the movie, and I was really taken by the young Sarah Polley. I didn't realize until many, many years later that it was Sarah Polley.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Little Kid
Mesmerized
Family Dad Me
Sarah
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We're not trying to form a new religion. I think that all the powerful religions are pretty much the same. People like to pretend they are very different, but they are not. They are really about believing in something bigger than yourself, something that's unseen, and about having some faith. That's not such a bad thing to have in the world.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Believe
Powerful
Thinking
Copy Quote
The California tract houses are like the mundane meeting the mystical. Sometimes if you're driving at twilight, and you see those houses, and they're starting to light up, there's something so beautiful, so ethereal about the fact that they're all pretty similar, set against this desert landscape and the light just hitting them a certain way.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Desert
Hitting
Landscape
Mundane
Mystical
Twilight
Certain Way
Houses
Tract
Copy Quote
It's very important for us because we are viewers, first and foremost. We view more than we make. For us, it's important that the viewing experience is fun and thrilling and exciting and fresh and different. Those are our goals when we are writing something. When you watch it in the theatre, which I hope you will, how will you have the best experience possible? That's really important to us, and is the most thrilling.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Fun
Views
Writing
Copy Quote
For us, time travel is synonymous for the belief in all the things that are not seen, and also for the most outlandish claim that you could possibly make. To say that you're a time traveler is weirder than saying you're an alien. It's really strange to sit down in a basement and be face-to-face with someone who claims to be a real time traveler. So, for us, it was about the nuts and bolts of what it would be like, if you were face-to-face with someone who claimed to be from the future.
Zal Batmanglij / Film Director
Nuts
Real
Would Be
Copy Quote

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Zal Batmanglij Quotes - Page 2

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