"The documentary film expects that Life will give and furnish it with all that is necessary for its celluloid. And this does happen. The director is there simply observing, without distorting Life by writing on it or directing it. 
 
How far one can refrain from interfering - this is the test of directors. With the documentary film it might sound easier, since the cameramen are in truth reporters, and one might say, what after all is the difference whether I myself or the cameramen shoots something in the street? After all, it's not that something like a murder occurs daily in the street. What does occur is the trivial flowing of Life - and that is what interests me, not the high drama, such as an accident, or a fire. After a fire broke in my building people were asking me, did you film it? Did you shoot the fire? But I didn't, because I am not attracted to those dramatic themes. The every day, the ordinary, the minor - these fascinate me. True, Cinema aspires by its nature to be captivating. It desires to arouse attention by meaningful events, even if they are little events that draw a smile on one's lips. But still, they are events; still, they are anecdotal. Even humor is premeditated in such cinema. But where are the small minutes of the anti-drama?
 
And in order to photograph that flowing of the ordinary, the cameramen can suffice - since I [as the director] am aware of the boundaries within which the film is photographed. After all, a street does not allow shooting beyond its ends."