Google translated.
Long associated with a certain Hollywood image, Kristen Stewart has for several years chosen a path free from its constraints, guided by curiosity and the need to forge her own voice. A devoted actress of independent cinema, she has found in France a space of freedom that complements her taste for experimentation, as well as her evolution towards directing. In 2025, she unveiled her first feature film. Entitled * The Chronology of Water* , it is an adaptation of the eponymous memoir by American author Lidia Yuknavitch . A visceral, feverish, and incandescent work, it premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, then at Deauville, where it received the Revelation Prize, and finally at Biarritz, where the fledgling Nouvelles Vagues film festival is celebrating its fourth edition this year.
Following her collaborations with Olivier Assayas ( Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper ) and Quentin Dupieux (whose new feature film, Full Phil , will soon be released in theaters), Kristen Stewart continues her special relationship with French cinema – a connection that notably led her to become the first American to win the César Award for Best Supporting Actress. A friend of Chanel , a major partner of the Biarritz Film Festival , she is currently dedicating her early summer days to highlighting the new voices of contemporary cinema. This provides an opportunity for a conversation about youth, its desires, and its artistic concerns.
You are chairing the jury of his Nouvelles Vagues festival. What does that mean to you?
First of all, I'm looking forward to getting to know this jury, because I helped put it together and I'm really proud of each and every one of its members. I think they're all artists who have something to say, and I'm eager to hear them. But to get back to your question, I believe that being president of any jury is almost a symbolic role. It's more about embodying the festival's intentions to the public. In a way, I'm its spokesperson.
Do you enjoy this role?
Yes, of course. Words matter enormously. Sometimes it takes time to find the right ones. Right now, I feel like they're carrying me, so I'm happy to share them.
This festival champions new voices in cinema.
Yes, and more specifically, those of filmmakers who refuse to conform to an industry that distances them from who they are. I think making dangerous films protects us, while making "safe" films puts us in danger. A film that takes no risks is a film that renounces itself. It only perpetuates the expectations of those who think only of profit. A film isn't made to please everyone. It should never seek consensus. It's precisely its rough edges that make it essential. As soon as you try to smooth them over, you lose what makes it alive. You should always be able to say to yourself: "I know it's a little crazy. I know it might make people angry. But I still think it's essential to say it." It's a matter of honesty. Living a lie is the best way to erase yourself, and then to self-destruct.
Hence, in your opinion, the importance of watching films together and comparing points of view?
In fact, there's something very vibrant about sitting in a darkened room… You're with your friends, but also with many strangers. Our emotions overlap, clash, deconstruct each other, and then reconstruct each other. You form an opinion, then completely question it after a discussion, because you think: “Ah, I hadn't seen things that way.”
For several years, you have maintained a special relationship with French cinema, notably through your collaborations with Olivier Assayas and Quentin Dupieux. What have you found in French cinema that you haven't found anywhere else?
Absolute independence. And true creative autonomy. I obviously can't speak for all French filmmakers, but I get the impression that here, they don't ask themselves: "What do people want to see?" But rather: "What do I want to do?" You see what I mean?
So, it is this freedom to start from one's own desire that seems essential to you?
Exactly. We need to create from the inside out, rather than asking ourselves, “What might people buy?” And in France, there's also public funding that supports this vision. A society is more balanced when everyone can express themselves. It's essential not to silence artists, filmmakers, writers, and thinkers. Every time I've worked on a studio film, big or small, we've been asked to change something simply because some guy in a suit didn't like a detail or thought the film would be more successful if my hair were longer, blonder… And I think to myself, “There you have it. That's fascism. That's 1984. ” And I refuse to be a part of it.
At the opening ceremony, Isabelle Huppert said that cinema was “the art of first times”.
I love this idea. It's given me a lot to think about. Because ultimately, we do things over and over again… but we have to manage to give the feeling of a first time. And I believe we can always recapture that feeling.
Do you remember the first film that made you feel that cinema could be totally free?
It happens to me all the time. It even happened during this festival.
Really? That's good to know.
Yes… but I can’t tell you which film it is.
I suspected as much… So we'll have to wait until the end of the festival to find out. And if you could relive it all for the first time, which would you choose?
My God… Maybe I should eat some ice cream. Right now. Because it's really very hot.
After all these years, are there still experiences you would like to have for the first time?
This just happened to me. I had two truly transcendent experiences in the last month. I was filming a movie with Panos Cosmatos called Flesh of the Gods , with Wagner Moura and Esmé Creed-Miles , who is also on the jury for the Nouvelles Vagues festival . The three of us act together. We started with the script, and then the shoot evolved into a completely organic creation, where our sensibilities intertwined. Together, we crafted a kind of magnificent nightmare.
What is the film about?
It's about self-discovery. It's a fantasy, a vampire film, a heartbreak story… all of that at once. It's profoundly sad because it confronts what it means to be alive: the sorrow it entails, but also the pleasure… and the close connection between the two. Then, suddenly, everything shifts toward a form of absolute transcendence. I've never felt so powerful. There's a scene near the end of the film that I might never have experienced if I hadn't been asked to play it. It's an incredible gift to be able to pretend to experience something… and then discover that this experience ultimately becomes real for you. You think to yourself, “Now I know.”
Perhaps this is the most precious thing that cinema can offer: transforming the imaginary into a real experience.
Absolutely. And then there was this other experience. At the end of filming, after that feeling of having completely pushed ourselves beyond our limits, the whole crew went to a rave in Cologne. I'm not really someone who goes clubbing… In Germany, it's a very particular culture. There are a lot of films about this European electronic scene, like Eden [by Mia Hansen-Løve , released in 2014, about the Parisian house community and the birth of French Touch], which I love, but I'd never really understood what it was all about. And there I was, surrounded by thirty-five or forty people who had become my best friends in three months, with this almost sacred feeling of love and connection… The music started, and I thought, “My God… I'm a raver. That's it, I finally understand.” At thirty-six, dancing with my team, in total abandon, right after feeling like I'd reached a huge milestone… it was extraordinary. It made me want to make films all my life.
That looks incredible.
Yes, it was absolutely crazy. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I don't think I've ever had so much fun in my entire life.
Speaking of abandonment, you also became a director. What do you think of the current state of cinema, particularly with the arrival of new voices and new perspectives behind the camera?
Everything is starting to crack. Those who hold the keys to the castle are mostly very wealthy white men, many of whom have never experienced anything worth passing on or anything that could truly teach others. So why should they be the ones to decide who deserves power, space, or opportunity? Why should they be the only ones making these choices? They are destroying the world. The system is crumbling. And that's precisely what's exciting because it means we now have the opportunity to build something new. And I have a feeling that this change is already happening, all around us.
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