Mary Cybulski/Courtesy Variance films/Anarchisto ConventionWriter-director John Sayles on location in the Philippines. His new film, â??Amigo,â?? explores the Spanish-American War, looking beyond â??Remember the Maine!â?? to examine Americaâ??s military occupation of the Philippines.

John Sayles does not live large.

He drives a Subaru. He dresses in gym shorts and tank tops. And although he has a home in Dutchess County now, he still works out of the same small rowhouse he bought in Hoboken 30…