There's really no precedent for someone like me gaining clout in the space that I'm in - a black woman directing films in Hollywood.

I make films about black women and it doesn't mean that you can't see them as a black man, doesn't mean that he can't see them as a white man or she can't see them as a white woman.

Why do we always have to see black people in hindsight? Why are the Hollywood movies always historical? What about the contemporary image of black people?

The studios aren't lining up to make films about black protagonists, black people being autonomous and independent.

I think that if we really want to break it down, that non-black filmmakers have had many, many years and many, many opportunities to tell many, many stories about themselves, and black filmmakers have not had as many years, as many opportunities, as many films to explore the nuances of our reality.

I wish I could be the black woman Soderbergh, and put the camera on my shoulder and shoot beautifully while I directed.