Why go to Antarctica, why do a film like 'Grizzly Man'? It's the sheer joy of storytelling - it's the urge.

I have never left my culture. It doesn't matter whether I film with Australian aborigines or in Antarctica.

ecstatic truth. I've always tried to strive for a much deeper truth in the images, in cinema, in storytelling, on a screen, so whether I've achieved it or not remains to be seen. . . . There are short fleeting moments when I know that I have achieved it. And to work for that and to strive for it and to try, gives at least some dignity and some meaning to my existence.

If you truly love film, I think the healthiest thing to do is not read books on the subject. I prefer the glossy film magazines with their big color photos and gossip columns, or the National Enquirer. Such vulgarity is healthy and safe.

Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates.

I cannot work fast enough. I cannot cope fast enough, really. And just releasing a film is hard.