Thank you, Yasmin Ahmad.

I got this from her blog.

http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/2008/11/artists-today-think-of-everything-they.html

The reason I'm writing this is not to boast some sort of comeuppance to my detractors in the past. I don't even consider myself an artist, let alone one whose work comes anywhere near as good as Andrew Wyeth's. But I feel this is something I need to say to new, struggling filmmakers out there who, despite their best intentions, often find their work spat at by naysayers.

If you're honest with your work, feel free to come back to this posting to read what dear Ali said to me, all those years ago.

Follow your inner instincts. Because, as Mr.Wyeth himself once said, "If you clean it up, get analytical, all the subtle joy and emotion you felt in the first place goes flying out the window."

Today, after making about 50 television commercials and six feature-length films, after winning 11 international awards, I often feel like I don't know the first thing about filmmaking. But I know this much:

If your intentions are pure, if you apply your craft with a view to observe humanity and, ultimately, God himself, very often something powerful will surface. And the next thing you know, hordes of strangers from all around the world are stepping forward to tell you "the story of their life or how their father died."