"One more. How about another film that Joseph and I were talking about last night, which is a wonderful film: Sunrise by Murnau. It’s a silent movie — I think it’s from 1927, something like that. And it’s one of the most beautifully shot movies you’ll ever, ever see. Just the pinnacle of silent film art photography. Deep emotions of, again, almost operatic story. There’s a lot of nature in it, there’s a lot of water, fire, sunrises, and sunsets that are connected to the story. Human emotions and consciousness and yearnings and failings and karma. It comes from a short story, and a very beautiful film."

"For all the splendors in this masterpiece, it’s another scene of actors watching a film within the film that left an impression on me. Guido is in a theater watching rushes of various actresses auditioning for the part of his mistress, while his wife (Anouk Aimée)—trying to contain her conflicted emotions—finally gets up to leave. This sequence was the basis for 8½ Screens, an art installation I did for the opening of TIFF Bell Lightbox, the home of the Toronto International Film Festival. There’s a clip of it on YouTube."

"Directors going independent to make precisely the film they want was not begun — as we sometimes think — by the latterday Johns (Cassavetes and Sayles). After World War Two John Ford formed an indie with the legendary producer (war hero also) Merian C. Cooper: Wagon Master was the lovely result, a film that seems like folk art. The stirring score and brilliant diagonals of Ford’s composition greatly inspired us in the Barcelona edit room — though I’m not sure if any trace of that influence could be found in our film."

"""And then I always think the Pixar film is always the best film of the year. Always. I just think they are amazing. Last year, I thought Coco was the film of the year. Those films are just brilliant, like Wall-E or Up, and you say, “How did they ever get that made? How did they ever get that past somebody?” I don’t know what’ll happen with Lassiter not there, but I’m a big animation fan. But I would say if I had to pick favorites, probably some of the Miyazaki films, those animated films. Spirited Away maybe. They’re just art. He is head and shoulders above everybody, and he said he was retiring. He’s like 86 or something. Then I just read he’s making a new film. Yeah, probably Spirited Away. It’s got 17 different styles of art in it. It just keeps changing. You just keep getting blown away. You can’t believe what you’re seeing"""

"This is one of two films on my list that are about a man—a dying man. McQueen comes to feature filmmaking by way of fine art, and it’s clear this is what makes Hunger so profoundly special. The structure of this film is masterful and includes a twenty-minute long take of uninterrupted dialogue. Though it’s extremely human, it’s not for the squeamish. This is a discomforting film about a discomforting life."

"I was vaguely familiar with Pina Bausch’s work when I decided to watch this film in theaters. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but I didn’t. I was continually surprised, not just by Bausch’s dance but also by Wenders’s vision. The film kicks into high gear with The Rite of Spring. My jaw dropped. Wenders expresses what Bausch’s work explores: our everyday gestures are performance. Our lives are art."