Errol Morris Quotes

The thing about documentary is that you don't really choose your subjects: they come and grab you out of your bed.

The happy story right now is the full page in Vanity Fair, which gives me a great deal of exposure.

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

We've got to make sure we keep the media attention on us; being on telly and in the papers gets people interested.

I love making documentaries. But I do like other factual entertainment as well, and I like doing the lighter stuff.

I've always slightly harboured a dream of making a film, a documentary feature. Somehow, I just got into a way of working a routine of making TV docs.

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

How many people get to say a '30 for 30' is being made about them?

There's something about the lack of certainty with a documentary, which is exhausting if you do three in a row. It's nerve-wracking.

It is not every day that a pop superstar gets involved with terrorism as a victim, so the press takes advantage of that to say things they think are funny.

I like to take a little of what I learned in fiction and apply it to documentary and vice versa.

I suppose making documentaries is like doing journalism on film.

I'm following my interests, and there's something about investigating the world and creating a watchable, entertaining programme out of it that is deeply satisfying.

When making documentaries, the most important thing I learned was to listen, observe gestures and facial expressions.

I consider the many years I produced 'Frontline' documentaries as the essential building blocks of my success.

I'm not necessarily scanning for clues when I make documentaries.

No one has a green light when they start a documentary - not ever.

I always wanted to make a film on Kalahandi.

In some ways, making documentaries is like being a journalist. You interview people and then use the bits you want to use as opposed to the bits they want you to use.

When you are a journalist and there is a big story like Dominic Cummings, it's great to be at the heart of it. What I love, and it sounds a bit cheesy, is you feel connected to other people.

We were approached by Alison Ellwood about the idea of doing a documentary. At first, we were a bit nervous because we didn't want it come across as a salacious 'Behind The Music' kind of thing. Alison did such a great job. It really puts perspective on things.

You don't necessarily need a script or actors to tell a compelling tale. Finding a person at a key moment in his life and rendering the truth as you see it - that's the truest form of drama.

I would love to direct a documentary film if any good subject comes my way.

We should not confuse having a Flip camera with making a documentary.

Movies, to a large extent, stand or fall on the strength of their scripts. But a documentary is a collection of found objects: fragments you've collected, accidents of interview and happenstance, pieces of stock footage that surface in the course of six to nine months of research and production.