Zal Batmanglij

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It's funny how quickly human beings adapt.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Funny
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It's very important for us because we are viewers, first and foremost. We view more than we make. For us, it's important that the viewing experience is fun and thrilling and exciting and fresh and different. Those are our goals when we are writing something. When you watch it in the theatre, which I hope you will, how will you have the best experience possible? That's really important to us, and is the most thrilling.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Fun
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I think we're really hungry for family in America, especially when I feel like people are really pulled apart from their families. So, we were interested in the idea of what the extreme version of that would be.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Thinking
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For us, time travel is synonymous for the belief in all the things that are not seen, and also for the most outlandish claim that you could possibly make. To say that you're a time traveler is weirder than saying you're an alien. It's really strange to sit down in a basement and be face-to-face with someone who claims to be a real time traveler. So, for us, it was about the nuts and bolts of what it would be like, if you were face-to-face with someone who claimed to be from the future.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Real
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I don't know if any specific religion is the one to subscribe to. I'm not saying, one way or the other. I don't want to get involved in that. But, I think having faith in this experience we are having as a group of people on Earth helps a lot.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Thinking
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We're not trying to form a new religion. I think that all the powerful religions are pretty much the same. People like to pretend they are very different, but they are not. They are really about believing in something bigger than yourself, something that's unseen, and about having some faith. That's not such a bad thing to have in the world.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Powerful
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And if you were a very sophisticated con artist, what would you do to convince people that you were from the future? What benefits would that give you? For us, it's also a question of, "Is she or isn't she?" That's really a major part of the movie.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Artist
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It really ups your production value when you have one person that you can use as your avatar through a story, but I think everyone gets their moment in time. That other couple definitely has their moment too, and they have to make some tough decisions.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Couple
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I stay away from the writing part because I think that if it sticks, it sticks. You just know it. The stuff that doesn't stick, goes away. The stuff that propels you forward, you can see it in your partner's eyes.
- Zal Batmanglij
Collection: Writing