I took an internship at Focus Features while I was in film school. I was really interested in how specialty movies were marketed and found their audience despite being about topics that were outside of the mainstream. Justin Simien Read Quote
I wanted to be a filmmaker since I was a kid. I always did things that took me a little closer to that. Justin Simien Read Quote
We get caught in our little silos and end up working against ourselves. And I think social media culture really encourages that, because you’re really just shouting into a void hoping someone picks up on what you’re saying. Justin Simien Read Quote
Black people are experiencing a systemic disadvantage, and it goes back to slavery, which was not that long ago. Justin Simien Read Quote
I saw ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at eight years old in theatres and spent hours trying to recreate the majestic imagery of that story in a drawing notepad at home. Justin Simien Read Quote
2001: A Space Odyssey’ – I’d watched and hated it seven times before it provided the first ‘religious experience’ I’d ever had watching a film. Finally, I was able to pick up on what the film was transmitting almost entirely through dialogue. Justin Simien Read Quote
I think unless we have an honest conversation about race and identity in this country, we’re never going to get anywhere. Justin Simien Read Quote
I talk about being a ‘what’ to people. Like, being gay in mainstream society is a different kind of ‘what’ than being black. They don’t always jive. It’s confusing and leads to these really awkward personal stories that have just been in me for awhile. Justin Simien Read Quote
