When Oliver Stone was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Gotham Independent Film Awards on Monday night, he had some advice for the young filmmakers in the crowd. “I’d point out to those of you who are struggling to be independent and to stay independent, that’s the hard part, staying independent,” the Snowden director said, before clarifying, “I’d like to remind you that you can be critical. You can be critical of your government, and we’ve forgotten that.” Stone, whose past work includes JFK, Platoon, and Wall Street, has made a career creating movies with strong political viewpoints. He continued, “Don’t go easy on what you think is wrong. Think internationally. There are other values beside our little echo bowl we have there.”