As a director, you're a bit of a dictator. But I feel that you're a better director if you're open to other people's ideas. It means that it's tougher: you have to be in a choosing process; you have to put the ego aside. As long as everybody's aiming in the same direction... I'm open to my main partners in the film crew.
Interpretation
A good director balances authority with openness to others' ideas for a successful collaboration.
Denis Villeneuve emphasizes the importance of leadership in directing, suggesting that while a director holds significant control over a film, true effectiveness comes from being receptive to the ideas of others. This requires humility and a willingness to collaborate, as long as everyone shares a common vision for the project, leading to a richer creative process and ultimately a better film.
In practice
In a film production workshop discussing effective directing styles.
I think I'm attracted to subjects that I'm afraid of. It's a way to approach things I am afraid of, things that bring fear in my heart, and try to understand them, try to deal with them. It's like demons. I try to approach it and understand it... I'm just visiting fears.
Cinema is an art form that is designed to go across borders. And as a filmmaker, the only way I can direct a movie is when I feel close to my culture.
I've been dreaming to do sci-fi since I was 10 years old, and I said 'no' to a lot of sequels - I couldn't say 'no' to 'Blade Runner.'
If you don't deal with your shadows, you are condemned to repeat the same mistake over and over, as a human being or as a society.
'Sicario' is about how the Western world reacts toward problems outside of its borders. Should we become monsters in order to fight the monsters? It's not about the cartels. The movie could have been set in Africa or the Middle East.
When we say that leadership is a choice, it basically means you can choose the level of initiative you want to exercise in response to the question, ‘What is the best I can do under the given circumstances?’
If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.
The responsibility of leadership is not to come up with all the ideas but to create an environment in which great ideas can thrive.
Successful organizing is not built on self-interest but rather on dignity and a sense of purpose.
To elevate the goals of humankind, to achieve high moral purpose, to realize major intended change, leaders must thrust themselves into the most intractable processes and structures of history and ultimately master them.
I am struggling to maintain the government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling especially to prevent others from overthrowing it.
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