Kristen Stewart is unhappy with filmmakers and filmmaking that has changed massively in recent years, especially in terms of creating rooted indie films.
Speaking to The New York Times, the Twilight actor underlined how the situation is at a crucial juncture. "I think we’re ready for a full system break," she remarked, adding, "And I mean that across the board, and also specific to the world I live in, which is very exclusively the entertainment industry."
Stewart, who recently saw the release of her directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, noted how Hollywood studios and makers have given importance to high budget films instead of projects that arrive from varied regions and perspectives.
"I think we need to, sort of, start stealing our movies. I’m so appreciative of every union; trust me, we would not survive without them. But some of the terms and some of the rules and some of the structures we’ve set up have created unbelievable barriers for artists to express themselves," she said.
Calling the system a "capitalist hell", she further shared that a "work-around" needs to happen soon. "I think that without being unfaithful, ungrateful, I think we need a little work-around. I think having it be so impossible for people to tell stories, and having it be such an exclusive and rarified, novel position to find yourself doing so, is capitalist hell, and it hates women, and it hates marginalised voices, and it’s racist, and I think that we need to figure out a way to make it easier to speak to each other in cinematic terms," she explained, noting that it has become "too hard" to make films that aren't blockbusters or abide by "proven equations".
"The next movie I wanna make: I want to do it for nothing, I want to make not a dollar, I want it to be a smash hit, do you know what I mean? It’s just so difficult to make movies, it just doesn’t need to be. So yeah, I’m just trying to think of some weird Marxist, communist-like situation, that other people can definitely think, ‘Oh, of course, this psycho is saying that,’ but I think it’s possible … The system has barred people and made it too difficult, to be honest," she added.
Stewart's Chronology of Water is currently playing in select theatres. It stars Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Susannah Flood, Tom Sturridge, Kim Gordon, Michael Epp and Jim Belushi in leading roles and is based on the 2011 memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch.
According to the film's plotline, "The Chronology of Water traces Lidia’s life from her earliest memories in the Pacific Northwest, as a promising swimmer, through fractured relationships, near-motherhood, addiction, and encounters with artistic heroes."