Joshua Oppenheimer Quotes

For me, I'm a filmmaker because, above all, I'm an explorer. It's my way of exploring and investigating the problems, the questions, and the mysteries about what it means to be human that vex me most, that keep me up at night, and that, when I finally fall asleep, insinuate themselves into my dreams.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer

I think, if you're in the United States, we've seen people trying to speak out in different ways and trying to make themselves heard about the United States' failure to move on generationally, given the long-festering wound of our history around race.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer

In Denmark, the annual Christmas party is probably the most important cultural institution in the country.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer

All we can do is find the courage to stand still and to look backwards.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer

In documentary filmmaking, there's a tradition of telling stories about victims. We often do that from a very patronizing place, but mostly we do it from a very selfish place, to reassure ourselves that our lives are in sympathy and solidarity with the victims.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer

I think Direct Cinema's trying to be insightful by looking at reality in a very close way while, in fact, much more is staged than we like to think. In cinema verite, it's about trying to make something invisible visible - the role of fantasy and imagination in everyday life.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer

Denial, panic, threats, anger - those are very human responses to feeling guilt.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer

I'm sure it's one of the most frustrating aspects of human experience for all of us, that when we tell someone who's hurt us that they've hurt us, they tend to react with anger because they feel guilty, and we know we also get angry when we feel guilty.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer

I think 'The Act of Killing' forced people to look at the problem, but the problem is actually a state run by thugs, or a shadow state, a part of the state that's run by thugs, and a military that enjoys complete legal - not just impunity, but immunity.

~ Joshua Oppenheimer