Roger Ross Williams Quotes

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Roger Ross Williams

Profession : Producer

Birth : September 16, 1970

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

'God Loves Uganda' is a powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America's Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting 'sexual immorality' and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow Biblical law.

Roger Ross Williams

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

Film has to reflect the real world.

Roger Ross Williams

My father was a religious leader in the community, and my sister is a pastor.

Roger Ross Williams

When I visited Africa to make my film 'Music by Prudence,' I was struck by how intensely religious and socially conservative Africans were. There was literally a church on every corner.

Roger Ross Williams

The more I learned about religion in Africa, the more intrigued I became. It was as if the continent was gripped with religious fervor. And the center of it was Uganda.

Roger Ross Williams

Hollywood has to diversify.

Roger Ross Williams

The Academy just reflects Hollywood. And until we break those barriers, until we have African-American or minority studio executives, 'til we have people who are greenlighting movies with African-American actors - the Academy is not going to change until Hollywood changes, so we have to start with Hollywood.

Roger Ross Williams

I think we have to work with Hollywood. We have to work in the system and change it.

Roger Ross Williams

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

While shooting in Uganda in 2011, the conservative evangelical pastors I was filming - the most ardent supporters of the country's now infamous Anti-Homosexuality Bill - discovered that I myself am gay.

Roger Ross Williams

I had my own Land of Lost Sidekicks, where I pretended I lived in Paris with my best friend, a little cowboy based on a Marky Maypo doll.

Roger Ross Williams

The establishment wants to connect with people who are like them, and I wasn't. I'm a black gay man from a poor working-class family. Most of the people who look like me are in prison.

Roger Ross Williams

I escaped my destiny. The odds were that I would end up in prison, but I didn't.

Roger Ross Williams

Often, films about people with disabilities are from the outside looking in.

Roger Ross Williams

I didn't have a lot of exposure to films as a kid, and I never went to the cinema. I had a single mom who just planted me in front of the television. But while growing up, I lived in my own fantasy world.

Roger Ross Williams

I had kind of a rough childhood, so I created my own reality.

Roger Ross Williams

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

Roger Ross Williams

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