Pat has a very wide appeal and people who admire him come from different parts of ideological spectrum. So we didn't want to alienate a part of our audience because the film is about Pat more than anything. So we wanted to invite everybody to the dialogue of what actually happened to him and the country at the time.

Of course I love Kurosawa’s films and I’ve seen them many, many times, and in terms of how he structures images, I am very influenced by that. But as far as films go, I’ve seen so many movies, and honestly, I’ve seen a lot more American Hollywood films than Japanese films. And because I’ve seen so many, it’s hard to pick out just one – I’ve been influenced by all of them.

Our search for the sublime in cinema fits naturally with the subject of faith, the invisible, and the mysterious forces at play in our fragile world. I have only glimpsed the sublime in cinema. In fact, the film I hold dearest to my heart is Pasolini's 'The Gospel According to Saint Matthew'.

I wrote that role for Ben [Mendelsohn], and Ben is an incredibly powerful character in life. He’s very charismatic. He’s powerful and he commands attention. And so this evolved even further with my conversations with him that while other characters in the film may cover themselves in tattoos and muscles, Pope wouldn’t need any of that.

It really wasn't our intention, but I discovered that our connection to the legend of Cropsey was what really made the story present and real for folks. It gave the audience some identification and also helped us heighten the narrative.

Words were my enemy, so it was a very tough two months preparation without a word which was to get them to experience inside the tank. So I talked about the experience then I locked them each separately in a dark containers for few hours. Instead of telling them about the claustrophobic experience, I let them experience it.

I think that is the greatest gift to any director – when it is as meaningful and significant to an actor to embody a character, become part of a story, as it was for Ashley to portray Helen.

At the beginning when we have the concept of the story. Once we know we have a revenge story, we open the book of details and see what we can use. For example the story of the sugar and coffee or the mine in the football field which I had in mind for 20 years. I have boxes of ideas and details like that. It's pre-occupation to have a rich movie. For some people it's too much and too many details.

I just loved insects; I would pick anything up. So I knew that interested me, but I knew I didn’t particularly want to be a scientist. I didn’t want to focus too minutely on one particular thing, which is sort of the way academia works these days. So, when I was 14 I saw David Attenborough’s PRIVATE LIFE OF PLANTS, and it was a eureka moment for me, and I realized “I’m meant to make movies about this!

I'm a great fan of Bae Doona and always wanted to work with her. I know this was a difficult role but the language wouldn't be a problem for her. So I gave the offer to her as my first choice. When I think of it now, I don't think any of the Japanese actress we have could have done the role, so she's the only one.

...this movie was a huge hit in Argentina; it struck a chord with it. It was the most successful in 35 years. People were so ready for it, I don’t know what would’ve happened if we hadn’t won.

...being a stuntman on film sets, I got to watch other directors do their thing. You’re part of the process. You see what happens that day. You see the end result. You see what works and what doesn’t work. And when I started, I was like a sponge, and that was my film school really.

I pulled Hiro, our DP, aside and suggested we go into commando mode and steal everything -- shoot it without people knowing. I gave general direction to the actors, then watched as the “party scene” turned into a real party. It felt like we were making a documentary, grabbing shots as they unfolded naturally.     

I wanted to change my body. I wanted to be a little bit more masculine and get rid of my female body. I wanted to be more like a boy. I wanted to be able to do all the fighting scenes, so I wanted to go into martial arts training. I trained a lot in Thai boxing and kickboxing with this crazy Serbian guy five days a week. I did a lot of preparation, and I also took motorcycle driving lessons, and I cut my hair and pierced myself.

My mentor was Kim Ki-young, a Korean master of the 60's and 70's. His movies are very unique and grotesque. If he were in Spain, he would be like Luis Buñuel. Martin Scorsese presented his "The Housemaid" at the Cannes Classics.

There's a history that I want to forget because I used to be somebody else that I want to put behind me. It happens to be the history that my brother Marc wants to hold onto. He's very nostalgic and sentimental person. One of the things that was surprising to me is the extent Marc was holding to our childhood instead of latching into being the grandson of Welles.

I never wanted to make a biopic about Tolstoy. The film I saw was about the tragic comedy about marriage, about the difficulty living with love and impossibility of living without love.

I also made popcorn up at the Directors and Screenwriters Labs. This was probably the best job any aspiring filmmaker could have - it was like auditing the most progressive and exclusive grad school. I was able to sit in on every advisor meeting, I was right there observing the development of some incredible filmmakers.

I remember sitting in Danny's apartment five years ago hearing him tell this true tale and his desire to make it into a Jewish-type "Goodfellas" and an ecstasy-esque "Blow" but I was immediately struck with the image of a naïve Hassid lost in the bright lights of a nightclub, plus me being Jewish and coming-of-age during the nineties in New York City, I instantly felt a personal connection.

Lucky is the reverse. An exploration of that other American Dream, getting something for nothing. I’m sure the emotions it will conjure will be utterly different than what Spellbound inspired.