Hollywood director Todd Haynes bizarrely says filmmakers are asking themselves a “real question” about how President Donald Trump’s administration will affect the film industry. “We’re in a state of particular crisis right now,” Haynes claimed.
After being asked what he thinks about President Trump’s second term at the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday, Haynes replied, “We’re in a state of particular crisis right now in the United States, but also globally,” according to a report by Variety.
“Everyone I know in the United States and friends abroad are witnessing this barrage of actions in the first three weeks of the Trump administration with tremendous concern, shock,” the May December director claimed.
“I think that’s been part of the strategy, to create a sense of destabilization and shock among the people. So how we proceed toward coalescing different forms of resistance are still in the works and are still being figured out among Democrats,” Haynes added.
The Hollywood director, who is serving as Berlin Film Festival jury president, went on to assert, “I have no doubt that there will be many people who did in fact vote for this president who will be quickly disillusioned by promises he made about economic stability in the U.S.”
Haynes also bizarrely claimed that how Trump’s return to the presidency “will affect filming is a real question hanging over all American filmmakers.”
“I think it’s a question that extends beyond the world of filmmaking, it’s how do you maintain your own integrity and point of view and speak out to the issues around us as forcefully and clearly as possible. And I think that remains to be seen,” the Far from Heaven director said.
“Always with filmmaking in particular, the financing question is complicated,” Haynes added. “So it’s also about the kind of financiers who are willing to take risks and willing to support strong voices.”
“And I think that exists, but again, it takes examples and positive outcomes to fortify those kinds of risks that people may want to take,” the I’m Not There director said.
German actor and director Maria Schrader also chimed in with regards to the U.S. political climate, stating, “I don’t want to fear anything. I want to celebrate these particular spaces, which are spaces for culture and the imaginary world.”
“And I think the wonderful thing about these spaces are they are rooms where a question can be asked, controversy can start. We don’t need to come up with blunt answers, we can ask questions.”
Haynes reportedly echoed Schrader’s sentiments, saying he “completely shares” her view on “embracing this festival, this moment that all of us have the privilege of partaking in: a look at what’s happening in cinema around the world at this moment.”
“And coming from different places and having our own different lives and experiences as filmmakers and film artists also brings that kind of diversity,” the Carol director added.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
