Roger Ross Williams Quotes and Sayings - Page 1

“Zwarte Piet, or 'Black Pete,' is a relic from slavery. It is something that should have long been eliminated, and it's very insulting to black Dutch people. It's shocking to me that it still exists, but I think it's about the lack of knowledge and education regarding the roots of the character in the slave trade.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Character #Thinking #Should Have

“Someone sent an email to Reverend Joanna Watson [an American missionary] saying that I'm gay, and she sent it to all the anti-gay pastors in Uganda. One of them said, "We're going to take care of this guy." When I was confronted by them I didn't know what they were going to do, but they decided to pray over me. They said they were going to cure me. That didn't work, of course.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Gay #Uganda #Guy

“I mentioned before, these [classic Disney films] are classic mythological tales, a hero's journey, and have been told for thousands of years. Disney has updated them, and made them accessible for us.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Hero #Journey #Years

“There is much institutionalized racism in The Netherlands and the non-White population is just now beginning to fight for their rights.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Fighting #Rights #White

“While growing up, I lived in my own fantasy world. I had kind of a rough childhood, so I created my own reality.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Growing Up #Reality #Childhood

“It is our stories [classic Disney films] that make us human - so Owen [Suskind] has become an expert in what connects us and makes us human. That got to me, the power of these stories, and the lessons these tales give us to create the connection between us.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Giving #Connections #Experts

“Owen [Suskind], in a sense, grew up on a diet of myth and fable, and has become an expert on their themes, which contain a moral guide that connects people.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#People #Experts #Fables

“The challenge and the goal was to get inside Owen's [Suskind] world, because I really wanted to see it through his point of view. To achieve that naturalism, I used a screen in front of a camera as I interviewed him”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Views #Goal #Challenges

“I realized that Owen [Suskind] is completely brilliant, because he embraced and memorized all these classic Disney films - these fables that chronicle the hero's journey, and have existed for thousands of years. Owen, in a sense, grew up on a diet of myth and fable, and has become an expert on their themes, which contain a moral guide that connects people.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Hero #Journey #Years

“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, because he participated in the writing of the book and wanted people to see him as he truly is. As far as the cameras, Owen lives in the moment and the cameras really didn't distract him.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Book #Writing #People

“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 journalists at ABC-TV News, and I knew about the book since its inception. Before he finished it, he approached me and said he thought it would make a great documentary, and I agree with him, and moved forward from there.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Father #Book #Tv News

“I had full access to the material, and had a great relationship with Sean Bailey, the president of Disney productions. He really guided me through the licensing process of the footage. I made presentations to the various departments at the studio, and they were moved by Owen's [Suskind] story.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#President #Stories #Great Relationship

“The product Disney created actually changed a life, and that was significant to them. They didn't stand in my way at all.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Way #Significant #Changed

“Symbolic racism is hurtful and it is especially hurtful to Black children who get called Black Pete in school and grow up with the sense that they are inferior to white kids.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Children #Growing Up #Kids

“Toward the end of the film ['Life, Animated'] we see 'The Sidekicks Story,' and that is a story that Owen drew himself. We took that style, which is decidedly different from Disney animation, and used it as a basis. It's a 'two-dimensional' hand drawn animated form, so I went to this company in Paris called 'Mac Guff,' and they assembled an amazing group of young animators, and brought it to life.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Hands #Disney Animation #Two

“I think many Dutch just don't know the history of Black Pete, that he is rooted in slavery, and how he was used to dehumanize a race of people. Once they realize this, many stop using this character, but those who continue are either in denial, insensitive or actually racists.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Character #Thinking #Race

“'Traveling While Black' is about empathy, what African Americans experience in traveling throughout America, and how it hasn't changed that much from the past. If it can be experienced in virtual reality, then perhaps some empathy can be gained.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Past #Reality #America

“I don't think we're getting the empathy, and identifying with the situations that many African Americans experience. That's the problem with how the story is being reported.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Thinking #Empathy #African American

“I wasn't that much of a Disney buff growing up, but I love the mystical and magical nature of Peter Pan, and I have connected with that character through Owen [Suskind] in making this film ["Life, Animated"].”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Growing Up #Character #Film

“When I first saw a White Dutch person dressed up as Black Pete, I was both sickened and shocked. It's hard to stand next to someone who views your skin color and hair as a costume. As a filmmaker, whenever I get that feeling, I want to explore what motivates people to engage in such offensive behavior and enlighten folks about its origins.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Color #White #Hair

“The relationship between a director and an editor in documentaries is so important.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Editors #Important #Directors

“That is what I was more drawn to - creating stories while changing and altering reality.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Reality #Creating #Stories

“After I read about Uganda's now famous "kill the gays" bill, I wanted to explore the religious forces behind it. As a gay man, I wanted to understand the folks who wanted to kill me and why.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Religious #Gay #Men

“I grew up in a Southern Baptist-style church with a choir, a band, and music, but I've been asking myself my whole life, "Why is my own church, my own community, rejecting me because of my sexuality?".”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Community #Southern #Style

“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

#Believe #Gay #Men

“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

#Dog #Scum Of The Earth #Draining

“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

#People #Stories #Filmmaker

“I didn't know the extent of American obsession with Uganda until I got there and saw it. You ride in the plane and it's filled with American missionaries. Uganda is the No. 1 destination for American missionaries in the world.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Uganda #World #Saws

“I saw footage of a well-known pastor holding a Bible and saying, "This book says homosexuals should be killed."”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Book #Saws #Well Known

“Why so much interest in Uganda? Why are American conservatives lobbing for hate? The answer is that they feel they have lost the culture war here at home and are exporting their outdated ideas to the developing world.”
-- Roger Ross Williams

#Hate #War #Home