All too often, white documentary filmmakers are the ones telling the stories of people of color. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
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. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
When I was in high school, I felt totally alienated from the world, but I loved movies. They were my escape, but coming from a disadvantaged community, I never knew that filmmaking was an option for me. A program like School of Doc would have been a game-changer. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
Lack of diversity in Hollywood has been well documented thanks to #OscarSoWhite, but lack of diversity in the documentary world is less talked about. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
The long journey I’ve taken from where I started, and to end up at the Governors Awards as a governor – it was an emotional and powerful moment for me. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
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! Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
The relationship between a director and an editor in documentaries is so important. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
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. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
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. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
I will always make films that champion outsiders, because I still feel like one, even though I’m now governor of the documentary branch of the Academy. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
