Asked about his work, during a Q & A session at SXSW, "Palindromes" director Todd Solondz said yesterday, "I am out to explore, to understand some of the contradictions that we live with, who we are."

Continuing he compared his work to movies from Hollywood. In those movies he explained, "You are asked to identify with an attractive protagonist, who maybe acts heroically," adding that those films give you a "narcissistic high -- something we love to get when we go to (those) movies."

"If you are looking for that narcissistic high, you are not going to get it from one of my movies," Solondz said, eliciting laughs, and then applause when he added, "Maybe that?s why so few people go."