Personally, I have nothing to prove. But I'm tremendously curious about human nature. Female life is so incredibly underexplored in cinema, so these stories feel very exotic.
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With every film I've made, 'Whale Rider' included, I've had a vision that was far bigger than the budget allowed.
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I try to cast actors willing to believe in the world of the movie, who can make an emotional investment in the world we are creating.
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I think a lot of action films, and I'm just saying this as a moviegoer, the default setting on action films seems to be how could it be cooler?
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We know, from our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends, that our strength comes - female strength - comes in all kinds of forms.
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I recognised that femininity and strength are not mutually exclusive, and I think that femininity has often been equated with weakness, but we know it's not.
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I'm not at my house storyboarding, and telling them they need to move from A to B, 'Move here and then there.' Never, ever! I used to storyboard when I was much less experienced.
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I blew up the mine in 'North Country'. It was about a kilometer long. I was so nervous that I'd do it wrong that I closed my eyes when I did it and I missed the shot completely.
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I come from a place that is very politically sophisticated and progressive. New Zealand was the first place to give women the right to vote.