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Roger Ross Williams Quotes

Powerful Roger Ross Williams for Daily Growth

I had my own Land of Lost Sidekicks, where I pretended I lived in Paris with my best friend, a little cowboy based on a Marky Maypo doll.

- Roger Ross Williams

Cowboy, Doll, Based, My Own

I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to represent all the Rogers out there who don't have a seat at the table. People of colour were not at the table, and now I am there, I want to change things.

- Roger Ross Williams

Believe, Out, Rogers, Steven

While the documentary community is way ahead of Hollywood, it is still nowhere near where it needs to be. Filmmakers of color rarely get hired by the powerful production companies, and they are not getting supported enough by broadcasters and funders to tell their own stories.

- Roger Ross Williams

Color, Hollywood, Production, Broadcasters

The more I learned about religion in Africa, the more intrigued I became. It was as if the continent was gripped with religious fervor. And the center of it was Uganda.

- Roger Ross Williams

Religious, Continent, Became, Intrigued

While shooting in Uganda in 2011, the conservative evangelical pastors I was filming - the most ardent supporters of the country's now infamous Anti-Homosexuality Bill - discovered that I myself am gay.

- Roger Ross Williams

Country, Infamous, Pastors

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

- Roger Ross Williams

Destiny, Escaped, Would, Odds

When I was filming 'Prudence' in Zimbabwe, I noticed the hold fundamentalist Christianity had on sub-Saharan Africa. So I thought I'd like to make a film about religion in Africa because the prosperity gospel is big business where people are desperate, poor, and sick.

- Roger Ross Williams

Thought, Big, Sub-Saharan, Sub-Saharan Africa

I have learned that the hardest part of campaigning for tolerance and justice is encouraging people to look at their own selves, to examine their own identity and shortcomings.

- Roger Ross Williams

Encouraging, Learned, Tolerance

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

- Roger Ross Williams

Mother, College, Cleaning, Dorm

I love 'Jungle Book' and all the classics growing up, but what I learned about this is that these Disney films are basically classic fables that have been told for thousands of years.

- Roger Ross Williams

Love, Book, Been, Thousands Of Years

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

- Roger Ross Williams

Money, Play, Fundamentalist, Flow

'God Loves Uganda' is a powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America's Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting 'sexual immorality' and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow Biblical law.

- Roger Ross Williams

Values, American, Religious, Christian Right

When I visited Africa to make my film 'Music by Prudence,' I was struck by how intensely religious and socially conservative Africans were. There was literally a church on every corner.

- Roger Ross Williams

Africa, Religious, Struck

My father was a religious leader in the community, and my sister is a pastor.

- Roger Ross Williams

Father, Leader, Religious, Pastor

There are simply too many Academy members who were voted in during a less inclusive era and still remain a large voting bloc even though they haven't worked in the field for decades.

- Roger Ross Williams

Inclusive, Still, Large, Decades

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

- Roger Ross Williams

Outside, About, Films, Disabilities

I grew up in the church, and I went into the production of 'God Loves Uganda' intending to raise awareness of the abuse of religious power in Uganda, and after 30 public appearances, I have learned a lot about how people receive this sort of message.

- Roger Ross Williams

Abuse, Production, Religious, I Have Learned

The Academy just reflects Hollywood. And until we break those barriers, until we have African-American or minority studio executives, 'til we have people who are greenlighting movies with African-American actors - the Academy is not going to change until Hollywood changes, so we have to start with Hollywood.

- Roger Ross Williams

Hollywood, Break, Studio, Reflects

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

- Roger Ross Williams

Church, Like, Felt, Outsider

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

- Roger Ross Williams

War, Against, Homosexuality, Missionary

When I decided to make 'Blackface,' a short film about Black Pete, I had little knowledge of the giant cesspool of hate I was about to dive into. I didn't realize how popular and passionate many white Dutch are about a figure that they connect to fond memories from their childhood.

- Roger Ross Williams

Passionate, Fond Memories, Short Film

What is so attractive about Uganda for missionaries is that they have free rein. They can go anywhere they please - schools, hospitals, the parliament.

- Roger Ross Williams

Attractive, Hospitals, About, Rein

I will always make films that champion outsiders, because I still feel like one, even though I'm now governor of the documentary branch of the Academy.

- Roger Ross Williams

Always, Still, Films, Champion

Imagine that you're a gay man, and you're spending all your time with people who believe you are possessed by the devil. Or, in the case of a lot of Ugandans, with people who believe you should be killed. 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

Believe, Devil, Your, Draining

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

- Roger Ross Williams

Important, Director, Editor, Documentaries

When I was in high school, I felt totally alienated from the world, but I loved movies. They were my escape, but coming from a disadvantaged community, I never knew that filmmaking was an option for me. A program like School of Doc would have been a game-changer.

- Roger Ross Williams

Been, Disadvantaged, Program, Escape

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

Been, Southern, Rejecting, Choir

I went to church every Sunday and sang in the choir. But for all that the church gave me - for all that it represented belonging, love and community - it also shut its doors to me as a gay person. That experience left me with the lifelong desire to explore the power of religion to transform lives or destroy them.

- Roger Ross Williams

Love, Shut, Lifelong, Choir

I just didn't realize the unbelievable impact Disney films had on American society until my assistant coached me on the stories and brought me up to speed.

- Roger Ross Williams

Unbelievable, Films, Coached, Disney

I came from a very poor family. And I was able to rise up and actually win an Academy Award. And if I can do it, then any kid can do it.

- Roger Ross Williams

Kid, Very, Academy Award, Rise

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