"I remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid being one of the first movies I saw as a kid. So I’ll also always equate it with discovering what a movie was. Being a young boy, and here’s my introduction to movies — it still feels like the most gigantic movie in terms of how big and beautiful it was, and the cool factor. Two amazing guys to watch."

"Another film that feels like a documentary. Garrone has managed to take all the sentimental glamour out of the Mafia—which sneaks into a lot of films on the subject—and shows it to be the frightening, feeling-less business that it must be. Paradoxically, the lack of emotion is what gives the film its power, and what ultimately makes it so moving and memorable."

"It amazes me how deftly Zola captures the idiosyncrasy, the mundanity, and the scale of life among all these different classes of people. Every character feels fully formed and real. And once I learned more about Zola’s involvement in the Dreyfus affair and how he advocated for individual freedom, I just thought, I love this man. He must have been an incredible person to know."

"This is a film that I could deeply personalize with. When making my films Tarnation and the follow-up, Walk Away Renee, I easily recalled this amazing film in my mind’s eye. I have never seen a film depicting mental illness so raw and pure as this. The film is so real that one often feels that they are really, really eavesdropping on something. Amazing."