Quotes from Ira Sachs

Fighting bitterness can be a full-time job.

Every film is hard to fund.

Capturing intimacy is pretty much the only thing I'm interested in. That's what excites me and what I find beautiful in movies personally - that almost obscene sense that we shouldn't be this close to these people. I find that very inviting and meaningful as an audience member.

My films might have been queer - because I was - but they were not gay.

Without community events like NewFest, I don't think we'd have a queer cinema in America.

I like a film that makes the audience feel like they are in the middle of life as it is moving, and in a way, they are catching up. They are thrown into things.

To me, honesty and the difficulty of honest communication are at the heart of both my life and my movies. The difficulty of being yourself.

I've always been interested in how the individual comes to know and accept him or herself, which I think has been hard for me.

I've been hiding crucial events in my life since I was 13.

I've made four films about the destructive nature of relationships, of secrets and lies, and I think I'm no longer interested in that subject - which is a wonderful relief.

As I've gotten less righteous, less pedagogic, I have become more loving of the artificiality, the art form, the imitation of life in film.

The praise helps on a deep level, which gives you the grounding that encourages you to trust yourself. On another level, each film is a risk, and the praise doesn't save you from that risk.

All history is defined by shifting modes of reality and time and how things change. That's what I love about cinema. It changes in the moment.

What I loved about 'Goodfellas' is that it's a film about bad behavior - but told with great energy and without judgment - but it doesn't actually shy away from the consequences of that behavior in the characters' lives, which I think is similar in 'Keep the Lights On.'

I always hope that people feel less alone when they see a movie that I make. That some part of the story played out on the big screen will resonate for individuals in the audience in a way that gives them comfort.

I have been very influenced by the director Maurice Pialat, who I continue to be in conversation and conflict with and get inspiration from.

I do love the young adult novels as a form and genre, because it has a purity of intention and heart.

As a father, I wanted to make a movie that my kids can love.

Intimacy is something to be cherished, and intimacy is not something to be afraid of.

I don't think I'd ever start making a film until I had both the intimacy with the subject and the distance to make it live in a certain way.

As independent filmmakers, we are actually deeply dependent on each other. The Spirit Awards are a public expression of those bonds, the intricate set of relationships and histories that we filmmakers depend on to make our most personal work.

I'm not interested in a film about deceit anymore. I think I was always invested in deceit on some level. But it no longer compels me the way it did for so many years.

Seeing the road show of 'A Chorus Line' in 1977 at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Memphis was a life-changing event for me: there were gay people, on the stage, and they all lived in New York.

Secrets make for good drama, and revealing the hidden truths and contradictions of life is, for me, one of the most exciting aspects of making movies.