Rithy Panh Quotes

The thing is, as a film director, you're essentially alone: You have to tell a story primarily through pictures, and only you know the film you see in your head.

In a sense, I think a movie is really a little like a question and when you make it, that's when you get the answer.

The most important thing is, how can I move forward towards something that I can't articulate, that is new in storytelling with moving images and sound?

I've been drawing my whole life. My mom says my sister and I were drawing by age 1. Animation seems a real, natural extension of drawing as a way of telling a story visually.

Sometimes you like the personal adventure implicit in the making of a film, and sometimes you like your part in a film, and sometimes you like the final result.

The reason you work as an artist is to stay open and ask questions.

Directing is all about storytelling. It's not about equipment, or anything else.

When I put together a graphic novel, I don't think about literary prose. I think about storytelling.

I like directing. It takes a lot out of you, but I'd like to do it again - I just have to find a story I want to tell.

I was commissioned in 2003 to create an original show, and began developing 'Upwake.' 'Upwake' tells the story of Zero, a modern-day business man, going to work with his life in a suitcase, stuck between dream and reality and not able to decipher the two. I wanted 'Upwake' to have the same audiovisual qualities as a movie would.

I haven't thought about getting into production. I'm interested in the creative aspect of storytelling.

You become the movie you are making.

When you're making video, you're giving structure to time, which is what a composer does.

And I think one way or another it's evident to those who work with me that as a writer, a director, a friend, as somebody's there that's very anxious to get the movie made.

I always feel like the editing room is like coming into the kitchen. What kind of a meal do you make from there? It can be anything.

The whole process of making movies and writing screenplays is visceral and intuitive.

It's funny, though, with films, because you can incorporate a variety of elements, and sometimes that can work for you and sometimes I think it can work against you.

Cinema has become my life. I don't mean a parallel world, I mean my life itself. I sometimes have the impression that the daily reality is simply there to provide material for my next film.

Every movie has its uniqueness. You just do your best and go with it.

There's no way to really mock up or simulate what I'm doing until I'm there. An exhibition for me is not a statement but an experiment.

Every frame and every scene has to have an intention.

The technology keeps moving forward, which makes it easier for the artists to tell their stories and paint the pictures they want.

I am a keen observer of my own films; I also try to discover myself through the movies I make.

When I sign on for a project, I'm there to give the director all the material he or she might need to tell their story, and that's the number one priority.

People think if you're a movie star, you're the boss. But first of all, I'm not a movie star, I'm in a very different place. I'm not looking to do what I want - I am looking for what we can find. It's a creative process.