A biography for Zal Batmanglijhasn’t been written yet.
“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.”
“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.”
“I'm just interested in carving out a meaningful life.”
“'Terminator' is one of my favorite films, and so is 'Terminator 2.'”
“'The East' could easily be a TV show.”
“Existing outside of irony is so hard.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I went to graduate school for directing at AFI in L.A., and I wanted to be a director.”
“You can't just express yourself and it becomes a movie. You have to get beyond that.”
“If you really want to have an anarchist experience, make a movie with a studio.”
“A director really doesn't deal with performance that much, especially if you deal with great actors. Their work is the performance. What you're helping them with is all the stuff they cannot be in control of.”
“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.”
“Especially in America, when you move away from home, sometimes you get disconnected with your grandparents, your friends you grew up with.”
“'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.”
“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.”
“I think 'The East' is political.”
“Claustrophobia is a theme that I feel is really rife in 'Sound of my Voice' and struggling to come up for air from that feeling.”
“I think the political is personal, and the personal is political.”