Chaplin always infuses humor with great drama. I think that what life is. Life is never just humorous, never just tragic. - Yasmin Ahmad

Ahmad's films are deeply inspired by the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu and display scenes of everyday life with a depth of emotion. The Yasmin Ahmad retrospective was a unique opportunity for the people of Hawaii to hear stories from a part of the world that often goes underreported here in the west.

If some people in power here were to think, oh no you’re smaller and you’re weaker, my job is to take care of you, then might not be a bad place. It is simplistic, but I think there is some truth in that. (discussing humility and power dynamics in art, filmmaking, screenwriting, Malaysia and the World)

People of-course, only ever people. (How she finds inspiration for her stories and her characters?)