Roger Ross Williams Quotes

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• Zwarte Piet, or 'Black Pete,' is a relic from slavery. It is something that should have long been eliminated, and it's very insulting to black Dutch people. It's shocking to me that it still exists, but I think it's about the lack of knowledge and education regarding the roots of the character in the slave trade.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Character, Thinking, Should Have

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

  8 Copy quote

• Someone sent an email to Reverend Joanna Watson [an American missionary] saying that I'm gay, and she sent it to all the anti-gay pastors in Uganda. One of them said, "We're going to take care of this guy." When I was confronted by them I didn't know what they were going to do, but they decided to pray over me. They said they were going to cure me. That didn't work, of course.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Gay, Uganda, Guy

  Source: www.motherjones.com

  8 Copy quote

• I'm not an activist at all. I'm a filmmaker, and I wanted the people involved to tell their own story.

  Roger Ross Williams

  People, Stories, Filmmaker

  Source: www.motherjones.com

  4 Copy quote

• That is what I was more drawn to - creating stories while changing and altering reality.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Reality, Creating, Stories

  Source: www.rogerebert.com

  4 Copy quote

• I mentioned before, these [classic Disney films] are classic mythological tales, a hero's journey, and have been told for thousands of years. Disney has updated them, and made them accessible for us.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Hero, Journey, Years

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

• There is much institutionalized racism in The Netherlands and the non-White population is just now beginning to fight for their rights.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Fighting, Rights, White

  Source: www.theskanner.com

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• While growing up, I lived in my own fantasy world. I had kind of a rough childhood, so I created my own reality.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Growing Up, Reality, Childhood

  Source: www.rogerebert.com

  4 Copy quote

• It is our stories [classic Disney films] that make us human - so Owen [Suskind] has become an expert in what connects us and makes us human. That got to me, the power of these stories, and the lessons these tales give us to create the connection between us.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Giving, Connections, Experts

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

  6 Copy quote

• The relationship between a director and an editor in documentaries is so important.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Editors, Important, Directors

  Source: www.rogerebert.com

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• I've known Owen's father Ron [Suskind] for years, and this was based on his best-selling book ["Life, Animated"]. We worked together as journalists at ABC-TV News, and I knew about the book since its inception. Before he finished it, he approached me and said he thought it would make a great documentary, and I agree with him, and moved forward from there.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Father, Book, Tv News

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

• I both didn't know Owen [Suskind] beforehand and didn't have any connection to the autistic community. But Owen wasn't really a problem, because he participated in the writing of the book and wanted people to see him as he truly is. As far as the cameras, Owen lives in the moment and the cameras really didn't distract him.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Book, Writing, People

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

• I realized that Owen [Suskind] is completely brilliant, because he embraced and memorized all these classic Disney films - these fables that chronicle the hero's journey, and have existed for thousands of years. Owen, in a sense, grew up on a diet of myth and fable, and has become an expert on their themes, which contain a moral guide that connects people.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Hero, Journey, Years

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

• The challenge and the goal was to get inside Owen's [Suskind] world, because I really wanted to see it through his point of view. To achieve that naturalism, I used a screen in front of a camera as I interviewed him

  Roger Ross Williams

  Views, Goal, Challenges

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

• Owen [Suskind], in a sense, grew up on a diet of myth and fable, and has become an expert on their themes, which contain a moral guide that connects people.

  Roger Ross Williams

  People, Experts, Fables

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

• Racism is a global problem and it is as damaging to Whites as it is to non-Whites. Everyone must fight against it.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Fighting, Racism, Problem

  Source: www.theskanner.com

  4 Copy quote

• When I first saw a White Dutch person dressed up as Black Pete, I was both sickened and shocked. It's hard to stand next to someone who views your skin color and hair as a costume. As a filmmaker, whenever I get that feeling, I want to explore what motivates people to engage in such offensive behavior and enlighten folks about its origins.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Color, White, Hair

  Source: www.theskanner.com

  4 Copy quote

• I didn't have a lot of exposure to films as a kid, and I never went to the cinema. I had a single mom who just planted me in front of the television.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Mom, Kids, Cinema

  Source: www.rogerebert.com

  4 Copy quote

• The first lady of Uganda is a devoted evangelical and beloved by the faith community. At an evangelical conference in Argentina, one minister said, "Mama Janet has given us the keys to Africa." She has done that by creating a nation that has embraced a Dominionist form of Christianity that believes that Christians have a God-given right to rule the world.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Christian, Believe, Creating

  8 Copy quote

• They embrace them because they represent everything that America represents: money, power, and freedom. Why else would you see an old Ugandan woman respectfully listen to a 22-year-old white girl from America telling her what she should or shouldn't believe?

  Roger Ross Williams

  Girl, Believe, Years

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• I grew up in a Southern Baptist-style church with a choir, a band, and music, but I've been asking myself my whole life, "Why is my own church, my own community, rejecting me because of my sexuality?".

  Roger Ross Williams

  Community, Southern, Style

  Source: www.motherjones.com

  4 Copy quote

• Imagine that you're a gay man and you're spending all your time with people who believe you are possessed by the devil.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Believe, Gay, Men

  Source: www.motherjones.com

  4 Copy quote

• After I read about Uganda's now famous "kill the gays" bill, I wanted to explore the religious forces behind it. As a gay man, I wanted to understand the folks who wanted to kill me and why.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Religious, Gay, Men

  4 Copy quote

• Uganda can greatly benefit from American evangelicals if they separate the Scott Lively extremists from the Rick Warren-type of moderate evangelicals.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Uganda, Benefits, Type

  "Foiled in the United States, Anti-Gay Evangelicals Spread Hate in Africa". Interview with Jeremy Lybarger, www.motherjones.com. July 9, 2013.

  4 Copy quote

• Someone told me once that I'm worse than a dog, I'm the scum of the earth, so for me it was draining.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Dog, Scum Of The Earth, Draining

  Source: www.motherjones.com

  4 Copy quote

• I didn't know the extent of American obsession with Uganda until I got there and saw it. You ride in the plane and it's filled with American missionaries. Uganda is the No. 1 destination for American missionaries in the world.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Uganda, World, Saws

  4 Copy quote

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