YANCE FORD

'Trumbo' is conventional in its structure, mixing interviews with archival footage. What I enjoyed most about the film was its liberal use of his own personal letters to friends and family, performed dramatically by well-known actors.

I had a list of 10 rules when we started 'Strong Island,' and one of them was, 'Yance will never appear on camera with sync sound.'

The justice system isn't meant to work for people of color in this country.

There are people who get to be three-dimensional humans in the United States, and there are people who do not.

There is nothing quite as exciting as watching a master at work.

I will never understand how so many young women can go out in the freezing cold wearing so little clothing.

I would hate for people to think that 'Strong Island' is just about a family's grief. It is about a family's grief, yes, but it is also an interrogation of our criminal justice system.

Grief, for me, is a moment-to-moment experience.

Most black families went from the South to the city. My family went from the South to the city to the suburbs because they wanted their children to have the realization of the suburban lifestyle. What does it mean that that doesn't actually protect you?

It would be easier for people to grasp that gender, sex, and sexual orientation are different things if we had as much imagination in real life as we do when we are making our movies.

I remind audiences that I'm in the fortunate position to make a film about my family.

Film festivals are usually unpleasant experiences on some level. The lines are ridiculous, the crowds are ridiculous, or the schedules are impossibly arranged: 'You say that there's a film you really want to see? Try the 8 A.M. show! Oh, it's too bad you didn't get to bed until 2 A.M. the night before.'

I don't feel like a hero.

Instincts are a really important guide for any artist, but particularly filmmakers because it takes a lot to stay true to your instincts as a storyteller.

I love marching bands.

My father just believed in my mother's ability to do anything.

When I use the word 'buzz' in successive sentences, it's clearly time for me to stop writing.

When I was making 'Strong Island,' it was very clear to me that my brother's death was a point on a line that stretched back into the 1940s and beyond in my family - and in the nation.

Violence against the other, and the way we otherize people out of fear, has to be examined across the board.

'Strong Island' is slang for Long Island, New York. And it really grew out of - what may surprise people, it really grew out of the very vibrant hip-hop scene that, you know, is located and still generates artists out of Long Island.

I have been gender-nonconforming my entire life.

Being nominated is such a tremendous honor. An Oscar win for me and for the 'Strong Island' team would be the cap to an incredible journey. But it would also mean that my brother will not disappear from history.

Everyone in the street where I grew up was given the same message: You can be anything; you can do anything. That wasn't extraordinary; that was ordinary for us. My folks didn't believe in black exceptionalism. There's nothing exceptional about 'You can have that, too' - except when it comes to justice. You can't have that.

I don't think I present as gender-conforming on screen, but some people need a little extra information.

If my making history makes it easier for a trans kid at home somewhere to feel more at home in their skin, then I'm so excited about that.