Debra Granik

I grew up in a suburban situation and I was constantly looking for the central, the town. I grew up craving. "Where's…

— Debra Granik

When I'm interested in an aspect of someone's life, I want to ask about their experiences, their survival strategies, and what they…

— Debra Granik

The process of starting up a new film is one of looking through a lot of material and trying to find something…

— Debra Granik

When I find those actors who are going to work that hard and collaborate that deeply, my role is to make sure…

— Debra Granik

I'm someone who's always looking for hope - if there's a ray of hope, a shrapnel, shred, a flake of hope -…

— Debra Granik

I'm interested in the lives of Americans for whom the ways this culture has tried to define itself - that is, self-esteem…

— Debra Granik

Our necks are getting injured from looking down, and the movie screen gives you opportunity to look up, you know? It gives…

— Debra Granik

There are documentaries that will just save your life and be the conduit to the art form you started out loving.

— Debra Granik

With material wealth and in a culture where many of us defines our self-worth by what we have and what we own…

— Debra Granik

There's a period where you feel very hinky and low about yourself, like, 'That was a lot of time, and there's nothing…

— Debra Granik

My ego is one thing. Of course I want people to like what I do. Of course. There's no doubt. You wouldn't…

— Debra Granik

Festivals are where I see other peoples' films, where we talk, where I get to learn what was working about the film,…

— Debra Granik

We all have to acknowledge the life and the path we were born into. And the things that define us, they're often…

— Debra Granik

My first decade of living in a metropolis was like, I was a people watcher. It meant the world to me to…

— Debra Granik

I have, obviously, a very complex relationship with the more industrial side of filmmaking and the machinery that can take an actor…

— Debra Granik

There are days when either filmmaking feels like an insurmountable practice - here's a lot of obstacles in the way to make…

— Debra Granik

My first narrative films developed out of a documentary process - finding someone who was willing to be filmed, watching, listening, taking…

— Debra Granik

There is a porous membrane between a documentary that doesn't use interviews and what you would call a neorealist hybrid film.

— Debra Granik

In documentary, mostly, people are going to say untoward things; people are going to have gnarly beliefs. People aren't perfect.

— Debra Granik

The challenge for me is to make sure I've done my work. To make sure not every scene is quiet, that other…

— Debra Granik

The social-media discourse is very different from what it might be on the ground. It's easy to bloviate without having to look…

— Debra Granik

I always think that my assignment is to seek out stories that are experienced by people who don't get the ticket for…

— Debra Granik

It's been a pleasure to see female comedians be prominent and flourish - like Kate McKinnon's Rudy Giuliani impressions, which are uncanny…

— Debra Granik

The questions that loom can be intimidating. 'What kind of moves is she gonna make? What is she gonna do?' There is…

— Debra Granik

I bring forward stories from the lives of everyday Americans: those whose path hasn't been set out on easy street or who…

— Debra Granik

I feel like reality TV has thrown a difficult wrench in the system - on the programming and making side, and on…

— Debra Granik

#TimesUp is you can't hold it in anymore: Time's up! The doors have to give way. It can't be that every 27-year-old…

— Debra Granik

You have so much more time to observe and learn with a documentary because of the time between the shoots. You get…

— Debra Granik

What does it really mean to have something change in you very late in your life, after you've structured your life in…

— Debra Granik

No one has a green light when they start a documentary - not ever.

— Debra Granik