The studios didn't really take independent films seriously, till 'Sweetback' was such a financial success.
There is a downside to affordable technology, and that's mediocrity. I mean, just 'cause you can afford it don't mean you can do it.
Blacks had a huge role in settling the West, but you'd never know it from Western movies.
'Sweetback' represented an economic tour de force because I had no partners; I own it.
In the morning, I get the paper. I look in the obituary column. If I don't see myself in there, I get up.
Blacks are tired of seeing whites saying, 'I understand you.' You need a black to direct a black film.
In trying to cross over to the mainstream, some people stopped writing what they witnessed.
In the morning, I get the paper. I look in the obituary column. If I don't see myself in there, I get up.
If I was just a creator, I would still be back in the Lincoln annex in the Post Office.
If I had to find one characteristic that is most symbolic of me, I think I am tenacious.
I've never been to film school. I had to leave this country to make a film. All they would let me do in Hollywood was be a messenger.
I'm not a normal director. You can't look at me that way. What's kept me alive is my technical skill at doing other things.