Haggis says he thought 'Crash' would never be made

Canadian-born director Paul Haggis says his Oscar-winning movie Crash was a movie he thought he'd never see made.

After winning the best picture Oscar Sunday night, a euphoric Haggis told CBC News he was "dumbfounded" by his Oscar win.

"It wasn't a surprise. Instead it was a shock. ... It was the last thing we expected," he said. Everybody believed Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain would win, he said.

Instead Crash took home three Academy Awards best picture, best original screenplay and best film editing.

Haggis, a native of London, Ont., recently made the move from screenwriting to directing. His screenplay for Million Dollar Baby was nominated for an Oscar last year and he both wrote and directed Crash.

"When I wrote Million Dollar Baby and this, I didn't think either of them would ever be made. I described Million Dollar Baby as like Leaving Las Vegas, only depressing," he said, speaking from Los Angeles after a night of celebration.

"And Crash I figured no one would ever make it. It has all these characters and it was about race relations and fear and intolerance. Who'd want to see that?"

Haggis said he thinks today's audiences are ready for films that tackle tough issues.

"We're in a time of war here and you head in one of two directions. You either start talking about escape or you start talking about questions. All the terrific films this year asked important questions about who we are and I guess that's what we were trying to do," he said.

Haggis said it was an honour to receive the best picture Oscar from Jack Nicholson.

He was coy about his next film, but says he has a couple of projects on the go. Haggis is believed to be working with Steven Spielberg on Flags of Our Fathers, with a script by Clint Eastwood, and to have written a script for Eastwood to direct called Death and Dishonour, about the Iraq war.

He laughed off suggestions that he's now one of Hollywood's hottest properties.

"It's a pretty heady experience. You just have to make sure you keep your feet on the ground when something like this happens. Because what it is about is you telling stories that you're passionate about and not about the size of your budget or how much someone's paying you."