True believer

Filmmaker Kasi Lemmons has a Q&A in today's NY Times for her new movie Talk to Me (starring Don Cheadle, a Denver native). Her answers spoke to me as a writer. From the interview:

Q. Is it hard to be a double minority in Hollywood: a female director and African-American?

A. I try not to dwell on it, or I wouldn’t get out of bed. I have to be a true believer in my ability to be an artist, and hopefully it will work out. I insulate myself from the grim reality. The statistics I see are 16 percent women in the industry — that’s depressing. I have to keep extrapolating: O.K., I’m a black woman. But being basically a positive thinker, I find a way to flip it around. And I know a lot of women directors, we’re friends, we support each other.