Latest Roger Ross Williams Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• Racism is a global problem and it is as damaging to Whites as it is to non-Whites. Everyone must fight against it.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Fighting, Racism, Problem

  Source: www.theskanner.com

• It's a horrible feeling to be mocked and ridiculed because of your race.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Race, Feelings, Horrible

  Source: www.theskanner.com

• Symbolic racism is hurtful and it is especially hurtful to Black children who get called Black Pete in school and grow up with the sense that they are inferior to white kids.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Children, Growing Up, Kids

  Source: www.theskanner.com

• Racism was never acceptable to the people who suffer from it.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Racism, People, Suffering

  Source: www.theskanner.com

• There is much institutionalized racism in The Netherlands and the non-White population is just now beginning to fight for their rights.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Fighting, Rights, White

  Source: www.theskanner.com

• I think many Dutch just don't know the history of Black Pete, that he is rooted in slavery, and how he was used to dehumanize a race of people. Once they realize this, many stop using this character, but those who continue are either in denial, insensitive or actually racists.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Character, Thinking, Race

  Source: www.theskanner.com

• When I first saw a White Dutch person dressed up as Black Pete, I was both sickened and shocked. It's hard to stand next to someone who views your skin color and hair as a costume. As a filmmaker, whenever I get that feeling, I want to explore what motivates people to engage in such offensive behavior and enlighten folks about its origins.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Color, White, Hair

  Source: www.theskanner.com

• I wasn't that much of a Disney buff growing up, but I love the mystical and magical nature of Peter Pan, and I have connected with that character through Owen [Suskind] in making this film ["Life, Animated"].

  Roger Ross Williams

  Growing Up, Character, Film

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• I don't think we're getting the empathy, and identifying with the situations that many African Americans experience. That's the problem with how the story is being reported.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Thinking, Empathy, African American

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• 'Traveling While Black' is about empathy, what African Americans experience in traveling throughout America, and how it hasn't changed that much from the past. If it can be experienced in virtual reality, then perhaps some empathy can be gained.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Past, Reality, America

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• Zwarte Piet, or 'Black Pete,' is a relic from slavery. It is something that should have long been eliminated, and it's very insulting to black Dutch people. It's shocking to me that it still exists, but I think it's about the lack of knowledge and education regarding the roots of the character in the slave trade.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Character, Thinking, Should Have

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• [Zwarte Piet] is unfortunate, and just like the early American blackface films, if it offends a segment of the population, it shouldn't be shown again.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Population, Film, Unfortunate

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast in her society because she was disabled, to someone who picked herself from that despair and elevated herself within that community, and now that society accepting her as much as they formerly rejected her. People identified with that journey, overcoming an obstacle, but still triumphing.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Journey, Thinking, People

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• Obviously it was an out of body experience to win an Academy Award.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Winning, Awards, Body

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• I mentioned before, these [classic Disney films] are classic mythological tales, a hero's journey, and have been told for thousands of years. Disney has updated them, and made them accessible for us.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Hero, Journey, Years

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• Toward the end of the film ['Life, Animated'] we see 'The Sidekicks Story,' and that is a story that Owen drew himself. We took that style, which is decidedly different from Disney animation, and used it as a basis. It's a 'two-dimensional' hand drawn animated form, so I went to this company in Paris called 'Mac Guff,' and they assembled an amazing group of young animators, and brought it to life.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Hands, Disney Animation, Two

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• I had full access to the material, and had a great relationship with Sean Bailey, the president of Disney productions. He really guided me through the licensing process of the footage. I made presentations to the various departments at the studio, and they were moved by Owen's [Suskind] story.

  Roger Ross Williams

  President, Stories, Great Relationship

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• The product Disney created actually changed a life, and that was significant to them. They didn't stand in my way at all.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Way, Significant, Changed

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• It is our stories [classic Disney films] that make us human - so Owen [Suskind] has become an expert in what connects us and makes us human. That got to me, the power of these stories, and the lessons these tales give us to create the connection between us.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Giving, Connections, Experts

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• The challenge and the goal was to get inside Owen's [Suskind] world, because I really wanted to see it through his point of view. To achieve that naturalism, I used a screen in front of a camera as I interviewed him

  Roger Ross Williams

  Views, Goal, Challenges

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• Owen [Suskind], in a sense, grew up on a diet of myth and fable, and has become an expert on their themes, which contain a moral guide that connects people.

  Roger Ross Williams

  People, Experts, Fables

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• I realized that Owen [Suskind] is completely brilliant, because he embraced and memorized all these classic Disney films - these fables that chronicle the hero's journey, and have existed for thousands of years. Owen, in a sense, grew up on a diet of myth and fable, and has become an expert on their themes, which contain a moral guide that connects people.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Hero, Journey, Years

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• I both didn't know Owen [Suskind] beforehand and didn't have any connection to the autistic community. But Owen wasn't really a problem, because he participated in the writing of the book and wanted people to see him as he truly is. As far as the cameras, Owen lives in the moment and the cameras really didn't distract him.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Book, Writing, People

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• I've known Owen's father Ron [Suskind] for years, and this was based on his best-selling book ["Life, Animated"]. We worked together as journalists at ABC-TV News, and I knew about the book since its inception. Before he finished it, he approached me and said he thought it would make a great documentary, and I agree with him, and moved forward from there.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Father, Book, Tv News

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

• The relationship between a director and an editor in documentaries is so important.

  Roger Ross Williams

  Editors, Important, Directors

  Source: www.rogerebert.com