Ira Sachs

“Suspense films are often based on communication problems, and that affects all of the plot points. It almost gives it kind of a fable feeling.”

“By 15, I was lucky enough to find the theater.”

“There's a lot of things lost in the Digital Age.”

“New York grabbed me too hard, as did adulthood.”

“As a gay person, my life has been marginalized.”

“I've been hiding crucial events in my life since I was 13.”

“All of my films have been autobiographical - it's all I've got to go on.”

“You can only begin to share life well when you think well of yourself.”

“As a filmmaker, you realize that places have character based on their history as much as a face does or an actor does.”

“You can understand why good publicists go on to run distribution companies: because the creativity involved is complex and nuanced.”

“For gay people, we learned about our lives in secrecy and a lot of fear.”

“Movies are romantic fantasies.”

“I'm not interested in a film about deceit anymore. I think I was always invested in deceit on some level. But it no longer compels me the way it did for so many years.”

“Everything encourages you not to tell stories of gay lives. There is no economy yet for that kind of cinema.”

“Most simply but profoundly, I chose to live an honest life, which I think as a gay person is not a given.”

“Without community events like NewFest, I don't think we'd have a queer cinema in America.”

“I don't rehearse with my actors... the first rehearsal is the first time we turn the camera on... Sydney Pollack never rehearsed his actors, and I found out that's allowed... so you film reactions; you don't create them.”

“I think it's interesting: What is the generational effect of the experience of being a gay person in America? For my generation, it was very difficult.”

“Secrets make for good drama, and revealing the hidden truths and contradictions of life is, for me, one of the most exciting aspects of making movies.”

“I think there's a fear of difference in American cinema.”