Cannes Film Festival 2025: European cinema against the Hollywood crisis

Cannes. Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Tom Hanks, and Kristen Stewart are just a few of the Hollywood stars currently celebrating premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. They represent American cinema—but, as the Côte d'Azur demonstrates, it's in crisis. The powerful new films are currently being made elsewhere. In Germany, for example.

Mascha Schilinski, Fatih Akin, and Christian Petzold presented their impressive new works in Cannes and thrilled audiences. In their films, they each explore family dynamics in their own unique way.

Mascha Schilinski has a chance of winning an award with her film "Looking into the Sun."

Source: IMAGO/ABACAPRESS

Schilinski has a chance of winning the Palme d'Or, as her film is in competition. Her poetic, experimental historical drama "Looking Into the Sun" was particularly well-received. In this story about four women on a farm in the Altmark region, the 41-year-old dares to forgo traditional narrative structures. Industry magazine "Deadline" wrote: "Cinema is too small a word for what this sprawling yet intimate epic achieves in its ethereal, unsettling brilliance."

Veronica Ferres also believes that German cinema is still on a roll internationally. She says in an interview with dpa: "We have great female filmmakers, fantastic, creative people, and perhaps simply a spirit of optimism after so many years of crisis."

Petzold's "Miroirs No. 3" follows the story of a young woman (Paula Beer) who, after a car accident, is taken in by a family and discovers a disturbing secret. The 64-year-old has succeeded in creating a precisely and elegantly filmed drama.

Fatih Akin's film "Amrum," starring Diane Kruger, is a touching account of the childhood memories of director and author Hark Bohm. Set in the final days of World War II, the story tells the story of how ideological indoctrination affects a family and a child. Akin told dpa that the greatest challenge was to tell the story of this period "precisely and without kitsch and clichés."

Director Fatih Akin presents his film "Amrum" with actress Diane Kruger.

Source: IMAGO/Bestimage

New York also plays a role in his film – in the 1940s, a destination to which many Amrum residents emigrated. "Today, I think America is no longer such a place of longing," said Akin.

For US cinema, however, the situation appears bleak. One of Hollywood's biggest stars, Kristen Stewart, spoke in Cannes about the difficulties she faced in securing financing for her directorial debut, "The Chronology of Water." "We had to leave the US to make it happen," the 35-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter.

"The Chronology of Water" is a breathtaking, visually stunning literary adaptation about a woman who recounts her love of swimming and writing—while simultaneously experiencing sexual abuse and losing herself in alcohol and drug excesses. Filming took place in Latvia, among other places.

A question for Ferres, who herself lives in Los Angeles: Is the current unrest in Hollywood perhaps strengthening European cinema? "Absolutely," said the 59-year-old. "All the Americans are trying to develop stories that have some kind of European connection because then they have a better chance of getting it made. In America, the crisis is much more severe."

Another film in the competition was shot in the USA, but it deals with how terrible things feel for many people there right now. Ari Aster's "Eddington" features a particularly prominent cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, and Pedro Pascal. The black comedy is an allegory about the toxic debate climate in the USA, which is characterized by fake news and hostility.

At the film's press conference, journalists asked almost exclusively questions about US President Donald Trump – which all the stars, except Pascal ("Game of Thrones"), avoided. Pascal has a migrant background; his parents are from Chile. However, after speaking out in principle for the rights of migrants, he also said: "It is of course very frightening for an actor who has appeared in a film to speak out on such topics."

A climate of fear has prevailed in the US film industry since Trump's second term in office. It doesn't feel good to live there right now, said director Aster. Added to this is the uncertainty caused by Trump's announcement that he intends to impose tariffs on films produced abroad. He hopes this will lure film productions back to the US.

Because US filmmakers are currently keen to shoot elsewhere. Cult director Wes Anderson is presenting "The Phoenician Masterpiece" in Cannes, starring Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Benicio del Toro, and many other stars – filmed at the Babelsberg Film Studio. It tells the story of an unscrupulous tycoon (del Toro), which will likely remind many viewers of the American situation.

Another entry in the competition is "Nouvelle Vague" by Richard Linklater. "I admire the French film industry and the determination with which it cares for its industry," Linklater said in Cannes. "Our country, the United States, could use a little of that."

His film "Nouvelle Vague" is a homage to a French film classic, Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless." A film that shows how Europe is becoming a place of longing—at least on screen.

RND/dpa