Denis Villeneuve Quotes

I think I am kind of put on this Earth to speak of being between worlds in my films.

But what I'm very interested in, whether it's writing, whether it's hosting a show, whether it's cooking food, I'm just into the discussions of identity, culture and the politics of culture.

I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture we have as a people, from music, novels, the streets.

I was shocked when I moved to Sydney how very few indigenous people I came across. And so when I go to places like Maroubra or Redfern or Waterloo or Erskineville, I feel more at home because of the people I'm around - anywhere I can see a face that reflects someone that looks like my family, I feel much more at home.

The basic principle I have is that what is most Korean is what is the most international. I don't want to come here and act like I'm an American. I want to showcase the dynamic potential Korea has, and I want to prove that as an artist.

Well, I think, you know, the arts are really what - one of the things that make this country strong. We always think it's our economy or our military power, but in fact, I think it's our culture, our civilization, our ideas, our creativity.

I think you learn a lot about a country from its art. To me, it's part of the drama of life. It teaches you that there are places, moments and incidents in other cultures that genuinely have a life of their own.

Can that make any sense - a Belgian artist living in Mexico and working in Afghanistan?

I suppose I have become a sort of living monument in Portugal. But I come from a family with roots all over the world, so the idea of patriotism is not very strong in me. My country is the country of Chekhov, Beethoven, Velasquez - writers I like, painters and artists I admire.

What will remain of our cultural identity if audiovisual Europe consists of ... sitting in front of Japanese TV sets showing American programs.

We need to preserve our cultural peculiarities; however, going to the extreme would lead to cultural isolation

National cultures and heritages must compete for man's attention with the mind-absorbing advances of universal science.

When I was making my debut as an artist, I felt that it was very important that I try to combine the background of my own culture, my people, and the country into the contemporary art world. So that's how I came up with the term 'superflat.'

What makes international cinema so interesting is that each territory has its own sensibility. When you look at an Indian or French film, there's a certain flavor. And even though the language is different, if the film is successful, it has something very common and understandable.

Yoga is not Indian; it does not belong to India.

I think of Westernized culture as a good visual for my music.

Doing any kind of culture in America in which you are not trying to affirm a European aesthetic is war.

Cinema, art and culture should definitely be shared. These things transcend borders.

All culture, all important culture, is always linked to how people express and experience being alive.

I had many reasons for writing this book but among them was the hope that every Latino child and adult would find something familiar in it. And my hope is that when they finish reading the book, that they will come away with a renewed sense of pride in our culture and in who we are. We get a lot of strength from that [culture and identity] and we should be proud of it.

Every artist picks what they want to put out there, what image they want to portray, and what they want people to know about where they're from.

My family is a Jewish Iranian family, but I was born in Turkey and raised in Italy. So it's a very mixed background.

Humanity is the rich effluvium, it is the waste and the manure and the soil, and from it grows the tree of the arts.

We have listened too long to the courtly Muses of Europe.

As a child of West Texas, I identify with Hispanic culture every bit as much as I do North American culture.