--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would love to have been a documentary…" description: "\"I would love to have been a documentary filmmaker; I just didn't have the resources to do that.\" — Anna Deavere Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acf/anna-deavere-smith-4847_documentaries_i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary_1940893.png" --- # I would love to have been a documentary filmmaker; I just… ![“I would love to have been a documentary filmmaker; I just didn't have the resources to do that.” quote by Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acf/anna-deavere-smith-4847_documentaries_i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary_1940893.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acf/anna-deavere-smith-4847_documentaries_i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary_1940893.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acf/anna-deavere-smith-4847_documentaries_i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary_1940893.png) > “I would love to have been a documentary filmmaker; I just didn't have the resources to do that.” [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire to make documentaries hindered by lack of resources, highlighting barriers in creative fields. **In simple terms:** Wanting to film documentaries but lacking funds. Key Takeaway Seek partnerships or grants to overcome resource gaps. Themes film documentary creativity resource constraints Mood determined hopeful Type motivational practical When to use this quote - independent filmmaking - educational projects - non‑profit media - community storytelling Key Concepts funding challenges collaboration access to equipment Questions to Reflect On - How can emerging filmmakers secure funding? - What alternative resources can substitute traditional budgets? A Different Perspective Resource scarcity can limit diverse voices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Documentaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentaries/) [Documentary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentary/) [Filmmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filmmaker/) ## Related quotes > [Witnessing is the essence of being a documentary filmmaker. Capturing moments in time; never knowing how history will judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-yates/witnessing-is-the-essence-of-being-a-documentary-filmmaker-capturing/) [Pamela Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-yates/) > [I never intended to be a documentary filmmaker. I think I became a documentary filmmaker because I had trouble writing, and I had trouble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/i-never-intended-to-be-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-think-i-became-a/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [Since I come from documentary background and my father is a documentary filmmaker, for me the core essence of cinema is it's social statement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-tverdovsky/since-i-come-from-documentary-background-and-my-father-is-a/) [Ivan Tverdovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-tverdovsky/) > [I've never seen myself as a documentary filmmaker. I see myself as a filmmaker, period, and I am interested in drama as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/i-ve-never-seen-myself-as-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-see-myself-as-a/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [For a documentary filmmaker, I do very well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moore/for-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-do-very-well/) [Michael Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moore/) > [I'm a documentary filmmaker, I know what it means to craft a story, especially when you've shot a lot of material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-joseph/i-m-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-know-what-it-means-to-craft-a-story/) [Max Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-joseph/) > [As a documentary filmmaker, I'm very respectful, and my interview style is not intrusive. I don't really have an agenda. I just go in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kaye/as-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-m-very-respectful-and-my-interview-style/) [Tony Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kaye/) > [None of our films look alike, we are very dialectical in our approach to each one, and 'Hoop Dreams' was no exception. That's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-quinn/none-of-our-films-look-alike-we-are-very-dialectical-in-our-approach/) [Gordon Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-quinn/) > [That's what I love about documentary filmmaking, we never know where the story is going, we don't know what is going to happen next,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-quinn/that-s-what-i-love-about-documentary-filmmaking-we-never-know-where/) [Gordon Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-quinn/) > [It's a privilege to have the career I have, to love every day and be following my passion, the stories that interest me, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietra-brettkelly/it-s-a-privilege-to-have-the-career-i-have-to-love-every-day-and-be/) [Pietra Brettkelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietra-brettkelly/) > [I love making films, and as long as I love the subject, I just have a crazy amount of passion and energy for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamra-davis/i-love-making-films-and-as-long-as-i-love-the-subject-i-just-have-a/) Tamra Davis > [There's no guidebook on how to be a filmmaker. I just try to do my best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-lin/there-s-no-guidebook-on-how-to-be-a-filmmaker-i-just-try-to-do-my-best/) [Justin Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-lin/) > [Maybe today I would call Fred Leuchter and there would be two or three other documentary filmmakers interested in his story simply because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/maybe-today-i-would-call-fred-leuchter-and-there-would-be-two-or/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [If we have anything to offer, as filmmakers and as TV makers now, it's this ability to feel as close to a documentary as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-duplass/if-we-have-anything-to-offer-as-filmmakers-and-as-tv-makers-now-it-s/) [Mark Duplass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-duplass/) > [I've been a documentary photographer for much longer than I have been a filmmaker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-greenfield/i-ve-been-a-documentary-photographer-for-much-longer-than-i-have-been/) [Lauren Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-greenfield/) ## More by Anna Deavere Smith > [I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-feel-like-my-work-has-been-my-path-to-freedom-from-having-grown-up/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [Identity is an assemblage of constellations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/identity-is-an-assemblage-of-constellations/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [I think some of our most talented people are not going to pick the arts as a way that they're going to spend their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-think-some-of-our-most-talented-people-are-not-going-to-pick-the/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [I mean, I think that - as an actress, in particular, I'm basically a fool, and I see the world upside down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-mean-i-think-that-as-an-actress-in-particular-i-m-basically-a-fool/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [The American idea is as promising, imaginative, and full of the unexpected as the land itself. The land represents freedom - the frontier, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/the-american-idea-is-as-promising-imaginative-and-full-of-the/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [I have never been in a violent movie or television show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-have-never-been-in-a-violent-movie-or-television-show/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [Poverty makes it very difficult in an already competitive world for kids to get on a straight track where they can actually love learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/poverty-makes-it-very-difficult-in-an-already-competitive-world-for/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [Your desire to communicate must be bigger than your relationship with the chaotic and unfair realities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/your-desire-to-communicate-must-be-bigger-than-your-relationship-with/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [Self-esteem does not come from surrounding yourself with people and things that seem to increase your value. Real self-esteem is an integration of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/self-esteem-does-not-come-from-surrounding-yourself-with-people-and/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [People realize that we're very good at sending people to war, but we're not good at taking care of them. And people are coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/people-realize-that-we-re-very-good-at-sending-people-to-war-but-we/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [I love studying how people are. Not just what they're saying, but how they are, what they're doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-love-studying-how-people-are-not-just-what-they-re-saying-but-how/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [Many people are afraid to talk about race because it's so emotionally loaded. We don't have the vocabulary to talk about it. Every day,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/many-people-are-afraid-to-talk-about-race-because-it-s-so-emotionally/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [Commit to finding the true nature of art. Go for that thing no one can teach you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/commit-to-finding-the-true-nature-of-art-go-for-that-thing-no-one-can/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [I made a real specific decision when I came out of school and most artists were writing about home - if you were a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-made-a-real-specific-decision-when-i-came-out-of-school-and-most/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [I think that art is supposed to be ahead of the times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-think-that-art-is-supposed-to-be-ahead-of-the-times/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) [Explore all 106 Anna Deavere Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) ## More Documentaries quotes > [I like the cinema of people like Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton. I am not keen on trying to reproduce reality - for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pierre-jeunet/i-like-the-cinema-of-people-like-terry-gilliam-and-tim-burton-i-am/) [Jean-Pierre Jeunet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pierre-jeunet/) > [Many people, including myself, thought of Jobs as an inventor, an Edison-like figure, but he wasn't. I did a documentary on James Brown recently;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-gibney/many-people-including-myself-thought-of-jobs-as-an-inventor-an-edison/) [Alex Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-gibney/) > [The documentary style is an incredibly flexible and useful one. It's a wonderful tool for establishing the credibility of the version of things that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gohlke/the-documentary-style-is-an-incredibly-flexible-and-useful-one-it-s-a/) [Frank Gohlke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gohlke/) > [Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/most-of-the-photographs-people-take-with-their-cameraphones-are-of/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [...it is a very risky thing for anyone to go about proclaiming the truth simply because he finds himself in possession of concrete documentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-amado/it-is-a-very-risky-thing-for-anyone-to-go-about-proclaiming-the-truth/) [Jorge Amado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-amado/) > [Most of my life, I thought that I would end up a novelist. But then, in New York City, after college, I started a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-spaihts/most-of-my-life-i-thought-that-i-would-end-up-a-novelist-but-then-in/) [Jon Spaihts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-spaihts/) > [By calling it a memoir, I meant is as a collection of memories. I thought it was (a more) artful (title) than documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/by-calling-it-a-memoir-i-meant-is-as-a-collection-of-memories-i/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/i-m-a-documentary-photographer-that-s-what-i-ve-always-wanted-to-be/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [I'm in school every day. It depends on what it is that you do with all that free time when I'm not on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mc-lyte/i-m-in-school-every-day-it-depends-on-what-it-is-that-you-do-with-all/) [MC Lyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mc-lyte/) > [If you merely focus on what we already know, then it's not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/if-you-merely-focus-on-what-we-already-know-then-it-s-not-revelatory/) [David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/) > [So I do tend to do documentaries where I can move in and out of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-apted/so-i-do-tend-to-do-documentaries-where-i-can-move-in-and-out-of-them/) [Michael Apted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-apted/) > [Helen Weaver’s book was a revelation to me! Although I was a young woman in the fifties, I was there, but I wasn’t there!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-cassady/helen-weaver-s-book-was-a-revelation-to-me-although-i-was-a-young/) Carolyn Cassady > [There's a tradition of reenactment in documentary which is about sort of illustrating what the past might have been like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-oppenheimer/there-s-a-tradition-of-reenactment-in-documentary-which-is-about-sort/) [Joshua Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-oppenheimer/) > [I've had frustrated storytelling juices that have been lying dormant for a long time, and I guess the documentary was a way of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bana/i-ve-had-frustrated-storytelling-juices-that-have-been-lying-dormant/) [Eric Bana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bana/) [Browse all 718 Documentaries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentaries/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would love to have been a documentary filmmaker; I just didn't have the resources to do that.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anna Deavere Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-just-didn-t-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Documentaries" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-just-didn-t-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acf/anna-deavere-smith-4847_documentaries_i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary_1940893.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acf/anna-deavere-smith-4847_documentaries_i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary_1940893.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acf/anna-deavere-smith-4847_documentaries_i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary_1940893.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I would love to have been a documentary filmmaker; I just didn't have the resources to do that.” — Anna Deavere Smith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anna Deavere Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I would love to have been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-just-didn-t-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-would-love-to-have-been-a-documentary-filmmaker-i-just-didn-t-have/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```