Stephen Frears Quotes

In nonfiction, you have that limitation, that constraint, of telling the truth.

I like documentaries because there's nothing to nitpick or criticize about scenes if they aren't just right. It's about honesty and real-life circumstances coming out. Granted it can be swayed by how people tell that story, but overall, I like it because it is true.

Truth is exact correspondence with reality.

Lies are beginning to be solidified and made into historical fact…. The truth is all I want for history.

With fiction, you can do whatever you want to, but if you are making a film on someone, you have to stick to the truth. You cannot just say that I will change the climax because I do not like it.

I don't believe truth is conveyed by style and presentation. I don't think that if it was grainy and full of handheld material, it would be any more truthful.

I film normal-life subjects in natural settings that some people would consider uncinematic. But what I want to show is nature itself, as the truth of life.

Critics can say what they like about the films, but very often, there's a certain expectation of documentaries that they're supposed to be like PowerPoint presentations. I see documentaries as movies. So when I see some critics writing that we could have done without the recreations altogether - well, perhaps.

In documentaries, you're confronted with reality; you can not manipulate or move it.

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.

I aim to tell the truth about any subject, not a romance or fantasy, not avoid the truth.

When I write nonfiction, it's always absolutely true. There will be no moment in my nonfiction where I have made something up and have to apologize to the bullying hostess of a talk show.

Truth is what works.

All stories should have some honesty and truth in them, otherwise you're just playing about.

Truth is the ultimate power. When the truth comes around, all the lies have to run and hide.

Setting is the bedrock of your story. If you choose a real-world backdrop, be certain you get your facts straight.

Truth is a tendency.

I always like when things are loosely based on real events. That always makes it more interesting because there's a lot of research you can do.

Nonfiction means that our stories are as true and accurate as possible. Readers expect - demand - diligence.

What is truth? What is a true story? Who is telling the truth, and what is truth in this world today?

Anything in which you're playing someone real does make you feel responsible for making the story as true as it can be.

The only thing documentary filmmakers have to work with, at least the way I make films, is trust. That's been true of everyone from James Carville and George Stephanopoulos to the kids in 'American High' to the soldiers in 'Military Diaries' to Anna Wintour to Dick Cheney.

Everything must have in it a sharp seasoning of truth.

Truth is that which affirms propositionally the nature of reality as it is.

Everything I write has a precedent in truth.