I often make films about subjects I don't really know much about. Maybe it's laziness, but I don't go in there having done a tonne of research; the research happens while I'm making the film.
I made several short films with very little dialogue. I'm still not a fan of talking heads. My stories are told with images as much as possible.
I made three short films of my own which I wrote, produced, directed... you did everything in those days. My favourite one was something I shot on VHS... a little documentary.
The subjects have to come with questions for me. I don't make films where I'm a massive fan.
The big thing for me is to make films that you feel, whether you feel happy, whether you feel sad, whether you feel sick; it's to make the audience feel so that the next day they remember what they saw.
My films often have a spiritual dimension which comes from my Muslim background, and I'm happy to tackle that in cinema.
I like to make films where I learn along the way, like the audience.
We were studying at Newport Film School, and I found that the only way for me to make films - because you need people and you need equipment - was that I had to be a student.
I want to make my own films from my own scripts based on stories I want to tell, but they take time to put together.