I started making little films with a 16 mm camera as an undergraduate at Yale. My first job out of college was 'assistant editor' on a forgettable low budget feature. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
When you are on assignment, you stick to the facts, limit your vision, and often cut out the most revealing material. There is no texture, no shades of gray. In fiction, you can bring the reader on the perilous journey… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
“Are you a journalist?” “I’m a doctor.” “Good. We need doctors, Wallahi .” Sadoon scowled. “Journalists only tell lies and smuggle carpets.” — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
“But there are times, I would argue, when fiction delivers the greater truth.” — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
When you do a piece of journalism, you may have to cut away 95 percent of what you are experiencing. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
When I was in London at NBC, I was the lowest man on the totem pole. I would go to diplomatic receptions to meet… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
After reading Graham Greene and Joseph Conrad when I was a student at Yale, I wanted to live in the world they captured in… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
When I was at graduate school in London, I began working at NBC News, which had a thriving documentary unit. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
When you have a situation that's destructive, when there's tremendous inhumanity everywhere, you see how humanity survives in all of its different permutations. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
“There are a lot of people missing in Iraq. Just the other day I heard of somebody asking $250,000 ransom for an Egyptian. Can… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
“Death was sweetened for the martyrs by the promise of 72 virgins waiting in paradise. She had researched the 72 virgins. The number wasn’t… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
I think the greatest thing about making a documentary is your ability to just follow the story and the subject. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
In documentary films, the most difficult thing to achieve is to make something complex appear simple. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
“You can take me to Petra, and sing for me in the ruins.” “Insha’Allah.” — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
