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I studied graphic design originally. I used to like drawing, and I was quite into technical drawing. I was always interested in the visual medium, but I thought I was going to be an architect or something like that, but it's quite a lonely job.
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'Senna' took five years, 'Amy' took three years. You try and say, 'Look, there's no deadline.' That's important. Just saying, 'We've got to make the film. And once the film's ready, it will be out there.'
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I like to make films where I learn along the way, like the audience.
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I don't have these crazy deadlines. I don't have this, 'Oh it's got to be out tomorrow.' I don't like working like that.
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I just loved films. I knew I wanted to work on film, not video.
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My films often have a spiritual dimension which comes from my Muslim background, and I'm happy to tackle that in cinema.
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As a kid, I thought movies were boring. My parents would hire VHS recorders for the weekend and watch Bollywood movies. I'd get bored and go out to Stoke Newington common to play football.
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The thing people don't get about Indian films is that the songs are the story.
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While still a young student at film school, I was lucky enough to get a golden ticket to a Martin Scorsese master class at BAFTA in Piccadilly: fancy, but technically still 'the flicks'.
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It's always great to be able to go to a premiere with the actors there.
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We want to make movies for the big screen. We want people to go to the theater and feel like they're watching a movie.
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The subjects have to come with questions for me. I don't make films where I'm a massive fan.
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'Do the Right Thing' has been a big influence on me. I saw it when it first came out in 1989. I was about 18, and it blew me away on many levels - I had never seen anything like it before.
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I'd always intended to make 'Far North' straight after 'The Warrior.' We had the rights to the short story, the script was in development, and I knew where I wanted to shoot it. It just took a long time getting the script together and raising the finance.
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My family didn't film anything. But then you look deeper and realize, maybe there are photographs, there are things. It's also context: You give something a context, and suddenly it becomes really deep or meaningful footage.
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There are no drivers like Formula One drivers. They are engineers, in a way. They are driving manual cars one-handed at 200 miles per hour around streets in Monaco. These cars use the ultimate in technology.
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Directing can be very lonely and quite intimidating.
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On 'Senna,' it got to the point where there was so much footage that our first editor had the wild suggestion that we only use the archive.
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If I'm going to do something, I'm going to spend however long it takes to get it right.
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To be teammates in Formula One actually means you are first rivals, not really mates.
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I don't really rely on watching video monitors. They put you at a certain distance from your actors, and it makes me feel less a part of what's really happening in the scene.
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Boxing is made for film - there is corruption, violence, tragedy and the chance that the underdog can catch the champion with one lucky punch.
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I was a sports fan long before I had any interest in film-making.