Top 33 Roger Ross Williams Quotes

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.

Don’t boycott the Oscars. Staying away from something that needs to change is no way to change it. Instead, let’s help them lead the way in promoting diversity in Hollywood.

The American evangelical movement in Africa does valuable work in helping the poor.

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.

I would be remiss if I didn’t say that it has been troubling for me to work within an institution that does not seem to recognize that I am a statistic.

I never watched much TV at home – it just wasn’t part of our home culture.

I want to look at the community I came from and what role incarceration has played there.

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.

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

The first time I saw the Dutch character known as Black Pete, or Zwarte Piet, my heart sank, and I felt a little nauseated.

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

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.

I began filming ‘God Loves Uganda’ by first meeting some of the Ugandan and American missionaries who have helped create Uganda’s evangelical movement. They were often large-hearted. They were passionate and committed.

It is important for American congregations to hold their churches accountable for what their money does in Africa.

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.

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.

All too often, white documentary filmmakers are the ones telling the stories of people of color.

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

The establishment wants to connect with people who are like them, and I wasn’t. I’m a black gay man from a poor working-class family. Most of the people who look like me are in prison.

Wiseman’s films are some of the most pure cinema, and to take a journey in a Wiseman film is like no other. He’s been doing it so long, with a body of over 40 films!

The long journey I’ve taken from where I started, and to end up at the Governors Awards as a governor – it was an emotional and powerful moment for me.

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.

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.

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.

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

Hollywood has to diversify.

I had kind of a rough childhood, so I created my own reality.

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.

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

I didn’t have a lot of exposure to films as a kid, and I never went to the cinema. I had a single mom who just planted me in front of the television. But while growing up, I lived in my own fantasy world.

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.

All racism is wrong, and denying that it exists does not make it go away.

As a film-maker, I certainly don’t want to be put into some box.