Movies are a complicated collision of literature, theatre, music and all the visual arts.
We live in a time where government is not a leadership thing, it's more a business that's out there and running riot, so I guess the people have to go out there and say stuff.
We've got so many stories to tell, you know, we could take on the world.
So we have to be careful because if you don't protect your culture you won't have it for very long.
I support all Australian films.
There are a thousand weird untold stories in the Australian film industry, this has been one of them.
You go overseas and people are oppressed and scared and worried but we're not like that... we're more like my films and how people come out at the end of seeing them - they feel good.
My background was art school, documentary director and surfer with a keen interest in thrilling acts of life threatening stupidity.
We cheer everyone who goes off to Hollywood and tells American stories but telling Australian stories is the greatest thing you can do.
Making your first feature film is actually impossible.
Hollywood is horrible... it's beyond satire.
It's an infinite creative universe to explore so why chase conservative options?
In 1905 Albert discovered Relativity, in 1906 he invented Rock and Roll.
All the jokes in my films, the comedy, they're not me, I just try to hold a big mirror up to us.
It's because we are so flooded with American culture that we're startled when we see ourselves up there on the screen.
The American formula things are out there but they don't have any stories to tell - we have all the stories to tell - but they're all formula.
While the eyes of the world will be on us let's show everyone that we have a great sense of humour.
I don't know what it means to be out there against the Olympics.
I kind of worry about that a little bit - we lost our film culture for 30 years because the Americans came in and bought up all the cinema chains and wouldn't show any Australian films.
In a kind of a way there's a bit of that happening now so we have to be careful to preserve our culture.
