Author

I am constantly swimming on the margin, neither 100% American, French, nor Lebanese. I am none of those. I am the result of those three. Sometimes it's an asset: no one can put you in a category. That I do not make typical Lebanese, European or American films does not bother me.

From Ziad Doueiri

I lived through many battles - the 1973, I was young; in 1982 with the Israeli invasions, and 2006 between Hezbollah and Israel. Before I emigrated to the States in '83, I had my own very black and white views of the Israelis and the Jews in general. But you start to understand that no matter what you think, there are two perspectives.

From Ziad Doueiri

I was born in Lebanon and emigrated to the U.S. and went back. I'd been raised in a French school in Beirut. Lebanon is a peculiar place, so bicultural it goes along with you. There is a Western influence, an Eastern influence. Most people are fluctuating between those identities.

From Ziad Doueiri

I was a child during the Lebanese civil war, and I remember Israeli bombardments. So growing up, my view of Israel was completely negative. I'm not coming from a neutral place, but with time, I've had to re-examine my thinking.

From Ziad Doueiri

Sometimes art is ahead of revolution.

From Ziad Doueiri

The world is going on a high-speed connection; the Arab revolution is still dial-up. So we have to give it a little time to download. Regimes come and go, but art endures.

From Ziad Doueiri

I wasn't trained as a writer-director. And the projects I write are difficult to finish.

From Ziad Doueiri

I graduated from UC San Diego, wanted to work in film to get my hands-on real experience, did music videos, TV, feature films, all kinds of stuff.

From Ziad Doueiri

I wrote and finished the script for 'Man in the Middle' two weeks after the September 11 bombing. It's a very American film about an ex-diplomat based in the Middle East, a leader in the U.S. administration who now sells used cars in the Middle East.

From Ziad Doueiri

Nine months after we submitted the original screenplay for 'The Attack,' the studio that was involved pulled out. I've been told that 'you don't write in a French way; you can't make these multicultural films.'

From Ziad Doueiri

Ziad Doueiri

Notable Quotes

Authors with Similar Views

Steven Spielberg

Reem Acra

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Nouriel Roubini

Paul Gauguin

Authors with Opposing Views

Abdullah II of Jordan

Anthony Minghella

Bela Bartok

Eric Darnell

Mira Nair