Roger Ross Williams

I grew up poor, black, and working class.

— Roger Ross Williams

Hollywood has to diversify.

— Roger Ross Williams

I'm a recovering journalist, I should say.

— Roger Ross Williams

Film has to reflect the real world.

— Roger Ross Williams

All too often, white documentary filmmakers are the ones telling the stories of people of color.

— Roger Ross Williams

As a film-maker, I certainly don't want to be put into some box.

— Roger Ross Williams

The war against homosexuality in Uganda is fueled by the funds of American Christian missionary churches.

— Roger Ross Williams

It's a horrible feeling to be mocked and ridiculed because of your race.

— Roger Ross Williams

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

— Roger Ross Williams

Someone told me once that I'm worse than a dog, I'm the scum of the earth, so for me it was draining.

— Roger Ross Williams

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

— Roger Ross Williams

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

— Roger Ross Williams

Imagine that you're a gay man and you're spending all your time with people who believe you are possessed by the devil.

— 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…

— Roger Ross Williams

It is important for American congregations to hold their churches accountable for what their money does in Africa.

— Roger Ross Williams

All the politicians in Uganda play to their fundamentalist benefactors in America because of the flow of money.

— Roger Ross Williams

Why should someone be allowed to remain a voting member of the Academy if they are no longer active in the industry?

— Roger Ross Williams

Gay Africans must speak up and let everyone know they are there, they have always been there, and that they are not…

— 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…

— Roger Ross Williams

While growing up, I lived in my own fantasy world. I had kind of a rough childhood, so I created my own…

— Roger Ross Williams

I realized that Owen [Suskind] is completely brilliant, because he embraced and memorized all these classic Disney films - these fables that…

— Roger Ross Williams

I've known Owen's father Ron [Suskind] for years, and this was based on his best-selling book ["Life, Animated"]. We worked together as…

— Roger Ross Williams

I both didn't know Owen [Suskind] beforehand and didn't have any connection to the autistic community. But Owen wasn't really a problem,…

— Roger Ross Williams

The first lady of Uganda is a devoted evangelical and beloved by the faith community. At an evangelical conference in Argentina, one…

— Roger Ross Williams

I always compare young missioners to the kids who naively signed up to go to Iraq to fight terrorism. They are just…

— Roger Ross Williams

I grew up in the church, and I went into the production of 'God Loves Uganda' intending to raise awareness of the…

— Roger Ross Williams

Someone sent an email to Reverend Joanna Watson [an American missionary] saying that I'm gay, and she sent it to all the…

— Roger Ross Williams

I had full access to the material, and had a great relationship with Sean Bailey, the president of Disney productions. He really…

— Roger Ross Williams

Even after I won the Oscar, my phone did not ring. No one called me to fund films or offer projects.

— Roger Ross Williams

I felt like I was an outsider growing up in the black church, as a gay man, in a poor community.

— Roger Ross Williams

Everyone has relationships. Breakups are hard. Everyone graduates from school.

— 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'm not an activist at all. I'm a filmmaker, and I wanted the people involved to tell their own story.

— Roger Ross Williams

The American evangelical movement in Africa does valuable work in helping the poor.

— Roger Ross Williams

All racism is wrong, and denying that it exists does not make it go away.

— Roger Ross Williams

Racism was never acceptable to the people who suffer from it.

— Roger Ross Williams

I never watched much TV at home - it just wasn't part of our home culture.

— Roger Ross Williams

Obviously it was an out of body experience to win an Academy Award.

— Roger Ross Williams

That is what I was more drawn to - creating stories while changing and altering reality.

— Roger Ross Williams

My mother worked as a maid, cleaning the fraternity dorm of the local college.

— Roger Ross Williams