Kristen Stewart at screening of “Full Phil,” at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. (AFP)
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Ahead of the Midnight Screenings premiere of Full Phil at the Cannes Film Festival, Kristen spoke candidly about her frustration with an industry system that places heavy capitalist pressures and commercial expectations on creators, in a conversation with Variety. The actor explained that these limitations have increasingly pushed her towards collaborating with international filmmakers, where she feels there is often greater room for creative freedom. Reflecting on her directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, Stewart also shared why she loves directing, while admitting that her artistic perspective does not always align with Hollywood’s profit-driven approach to filmmaking and strict distribution constraints.
Kristen Stewart on making “weird s***” and putting them on YouTube
While reflecting on her directorial debut The Chronology of Water, which premiered exactly a year ago at the Cannes Film Festival, Kristen Stewart revealed that she already has two more films lined up that she is determined to direct on her own terms. The actor shared that she hopes to complete one project by the end of this year, while the other is expected to finish shooting by next April. Stewart explained that her goal with these films is not centred around commercial success, but rather about creating work for audiences who genuinely care about the art itself. While she said she would love for her projects to be distributed by indie studios such as A24 or Neon, she admitted that she does not see herself making large-scale Hollywood blockbusters, believing that such projects would ultimately compromise her artistic freedom.
Speaking of her directorial plans, the Twilight actor explained, “My goal is to make something for really nothing with my friends before the end of the year and put it on f***ing YouTube. And seriously, whatever money we make from that will be what I spend on my next one and there will be a trickle-down effect. I just don’t want to talk to these bros anymore. And by the way, I’d be lucky to have anything I worked on be distributed by like, A24 or Neon – people who, by the way, I am friends with. Like, these are my homies. It’s just that, I don’t want to make… I love Hollywood, I love big movies, [but] I don’t think I’d be very good at making them. I want to make weird s***. And I’m fully OK doing that in a kind of insulated, bizarre way. But I don’t want to do the thing where I wait five years for someone to give me $1 million to make something. I’m going to make it f***ing tomorrow. Because also like, what the f**k. I’ve been working for a long time – I’m just going to sit here doing the same thing over and over amassing wealth? No. It’s a ridiculous way to live your life.”
“I’m so sick of the system”
While speaking about the challenges of making films in the United States, Kristen Stewart told Variety that the current system is not built to allow artists to express themselves freely. She explained that filmmakers are constantly restricted by commercial and bureaucratic parameters that often stand in direct opposition to genuine creative freedom. Stewart further argued that it becomes nearly impossible to create anything truly radical or unconventional under the scrutiny of executives and bureaucrats whose priorities and ideals do not align with what artists like her are trying to communicate through their work.
Kristen said, “I’m just so sick of the rules and I’m so sick of the system. It is not designed for artists to express themselves. We’re just really under the thumb of different priorities that don’t align with real dream-making. I just don’t think that it’s possible to create sort of radical, vital work under capitalistic parameters. Especially like, most of the people in charge are a bunch of bros that have come up under a bunch of other bros and those people don’t really identify with the type of things that I personally want to say, that the people I align with want to say. There needs to be more work, more output, more connection and less fear and less f***ing bureaucracy and also less making billionaires more f***ing billionaires. It’s driving me insane. We spend so much money, we just like hemorrhage money making stuff in a system that honestly is not designed for us. There’s no way to play the game anymore.”
