Kevin Macdonald Quotes

I love documentaries. I love the format. I've been doing them for a long time.

I'm a big fan of documentaries. I've always loved them, and I've just never had the opportunity or the time to make a feature.

I always thought of documentaries as films through which you find your voice as a narrator.

I'm a documentary filmmaker, I know what it means to craft a story, especially when you've shot a lot of material.

You make documentaries because you love doing it; it's the only sane reason to make documentaries.

Of course, when you're making a documentary, you don't have actors, but nonetheless, there is a writing process that does take place in the editing room.

I've been a documentary photographer for much longer than I have been a filmmaker.

'The Look' is my first documentary, and I enjoyed the freedom of working within a small team.

You should bear in mind that almost all my documentaries are feature films in disguise.

I'm a documentary filmmaker by training. You got to start with the real people and the real place.

I did documentary film for a long time, and I spent a lot of time behind the camera, fervently wishing that the reality I was filming would conform to my narrative propriety. But you can't control it.

But one of the amazing things about documentary is that you can remake it every time you make one. There is no rule about how a documentary film has to be made.

I don't normally make documentaries. I'm a drama director. I've made a few short docs, but I don't like talking heads or 'voice of God' narrators.

When I started my filmmaking journey 17 years ago, I honestly didn't know what a documentary film was.

I came from a background of directing behind-the-scenes documentaries.

I think the greatest thing about making a documentary is your ability to just follow the story and the subject.

One thing I'm passionate about is directing. I've always wanted to direct.

It's hard not to want to become Ken Burns at times. I'm interested in being a Ken Burns who reaches that 17-year-old who goes to the multiplex just to see a good story well-told. And if there's history in it, all the better.

From 2005 to 2010, I was exclusively shooting 'The Act of Killing' and then editing it.

I never wanted to be anything special. I just wanted to make films.

In documentary films, you're a storyteller using found objects. You still have to have a story arc and all the elements that make a good story. It really helped me mature as a storyteller.

I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They're amazing documentarians. If you took away all the narratives, they'd just be amazing documentarians.

Absolutely. I can produce. I can write. I can direct.

I've often thought even ragtag gatherings of documentary filmmakers are more fun than gatherings of fiction filmmakers.

I've never looked at film-making as a career. I've looked on film-making as an adventure. When you come down the mountain, you get ready to climb again.