Kristen Stewart wasted no time making her presence felt as jury president of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. Screendaily reports that Stewart had some cutting things to say about the state of the film industry at the festival’s Competition press conference, particularly its obsession with money over artistic merit.
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Following up comments by her fellow juror Radu Jude, who evoked Isidore Isou‘s 1951 avant-garde film “Venom And Eternity” and its credo that “cinema is the industry of money and stupidity,” Stewart called the filmmaking world’s current situation “stupid and embarrassing.” “How we [make films,] who consumes it, how much it costs — we’re heading towards oblivion on that level,” said the actress. What a way to kick off her time as the festival’s jury president.
But Stewart’s outlook isn’t entirely negative. “There’s a vital, desperate need in all of us to create something, and we’re going to consume the things that each other make forever,” she continued. “If you start fixating on the industry of it, it’s easy to be like ‘oh god, it’s falling apart’. But I think that there’s something vital that’s undeniable and will never go away.”
Stewart kicked off the Competition press conference by citing Berlin’s penchant for political artistic statements, and relishes her chance to lead the festival’s jury. ““It’s such a rare indulgence to be able to talk about the thing you’re obsessed with, which in my case is movies, when you’re not promoting it or making one,” Stewart said. “It wasn’t my decision to be here, I was shocked that they called me; it’s an enormous opportunity to have a hand in highlighting beautiful things in a time where that’s hard to hold.”
“It’s the job of an artist to take a disgusting and ugly thing and transmute it, put it through your body and pop out something more beautiful and more helpful,” the actress continued “Something considered and not something knee-jerk reactive. We’re living in the most reactive, emotionally whiplashed time. To sit and have a moment to digress and see what people have pumped out of their own bodies – that was an opportunity I couldn’t say no to.”
Other members of this year’s Berlin jury include actress Golshifteh Farahani, casting director Francine Maisler, and directors Valeska Grisebach, Carla Simon, and Johnnie To. So what film in the competition will Stewart and this group pick to win the Golden Bear? Way too early to tell there, but consider Philippe Garrel‘s “The Plough” and Christian Petzold‘s “Afire” early favorites. Keep up with The Playlist’s coverage of Berlin 2023 here.