Todd Haynes described the U.S. as being in a state of crisis at the Berlinale jury press conference on Thursday when asked on his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s first weeks in office.
“We’re in a state of particular crisis right now in the United States, but also globally… everyone I know in the United States… are witnessing this barrage of actions in the first three weeks of the Trump administration with tremendous concern and shock,” he said.
“I think that’s been part of the strategy to create a sense of destabilization and shock to people so that how we proceed toward coalescing different forms of resistance are still in the works and are still being figured out among Democrats,” he continued.
“I have no doubt that there will be many people who got in that vote for this president, who will be quickly disillusioned by his promises that he made about economic stability in the United States.”
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Haynes was speaking at the jury press conference for the 75th edition of the Berlin Film Festival which gets underway this evening with Tom Tykwer’s zeitgeisty drama The Light.
The festival is unfolding three weeks after President Trump’s inauguration, which have seen his administration unveil a series of policy shifts around immigration, trade tariffs, DEI programs and foreign aid.
In Germany, the country is gearing up for general elections on February 23, in which the far-right, anti-immigrant AfD party is currently polling in second position, which has prompted large-scale street demonstrations across the country.
The post Todd Haynes Talks U.S. Crisis Under First Weeks Of Trump & Accuses President Of “Destabilization” Tactics As Berlinale Lifts Off appeared first on Deadline.
