Quotes from Roger Ross Williams

I came from a very poor family. And I was able to rise up and actually win an Academy Award. And if I can do it, then any kid can do it.

I had kind of a rough childhood, so I created my own reality.

I had my own Land of Lost Sidekicks, where I pretended I lived in Paris with my best friend, a little cowboy based on a Marky Maypo doll.

When I visited Africa to make my film 'Music by Prudence,' I was struck by how intensely religious and socially conservative Africans were. There was literally a church on every corner.

My father was a religious leader in the community, and my sister is a pastor.

Why should someone be allowed to remain a voting member of the Academy if they are no longer active in the industry?

There are simply too many Academy members who were voted in during a less inclusive era and still remain a large voting bloc even though they haven't worked in the field for decades.

It is important for American congregations to hold their churches accountable for what their money does in Africa.

While the documentary community is way ahead of Hollywood, it is still nowhere near where it needs to be. Filmmakers of color rarely get hired by the powerful production companies, and they are not getting supported enough by broadcasters and funders to tell their own stories.

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

I escaped my destiny. The odds were that I would end up in prison, but I didn't.

Hollywood has to diversify.

All too often, white documentary filmmakers are the ones telling the stories of people of color.

The musicians are good and their music is catchy - it pulls the kids in in droves. Mike Bickle admitted to me that the music was a big part of their success at attracting young people.

Wiseman's films are some of the most pure cinema, and to take a journey in a Wiseman film is like no other. He's been doing it so long, with a body of over 40 films!

My mother worked as a maid, cleaning the fraternity dorm of the local college.

Film has to reflect the real world.

All racism is wrong, and denying that it exists does not make it go away.

Gay Africans must speak up and let everyone know they are there, they have always been there, and that they are not going away.

I would be remiss if I didn't say that it has been troubling for me to work within an institution that does not seem to recognize that I am a statistic.

The product Disney created actually changed a life, and that was significant to them. They didn't stand in my way at all.

Everyone has relationships. Breakups are hard. Everyone graduates from school.

I love 'Jungle Book' and all the classics growing up, but what I learned about this is that these Disney films are basically classic fables that have been told for thousands of years.

I'm a recovering journalist, I should say.