With his customs duties on films produced abroad, Donald Trump invites himself to the 78th Cannes Film Festival

At the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Donald Trump was on the Croisette screens with the competition selection of Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice , a youthful portrait of the American president, played by an astonishing Sebastian Stan . The tycoon's shadow will once again weigh on the 2025 edition, which begins next Tuesday. His proposal for 100% customs duties on "foreign films" will be the talk of the town for producers, directors, talent, and agents converging on Cannes to attend screenings and participate in the film market, where many prestigious projects seeking financing or a distributor are presented.

The terms of these customs duties, which primarily target American productions choosing to shoot in Europe, Oceania or Canada to benefit from the advantageous tax credits in force, remain unknown. Some wonder if the president will follow through with a measure that will destabilize the entire Hollywood production ecosystem. In particular, the independent film sector, dependent on co-productions, and that of distributors like Mubi or Neon, buyers of numerous international Oscar-winning films such as Parasite and Anatomy of a Fall . The industry is "on red alert," notes the specialist site Deadline, citing several regulars at the Cannes market .

Also read: How Hollywood risks being weakened by Donald Trump's tariffs

"What a bombshell on the eve of Cannes! The mere possibility of tariffs creates unnecessary uncertainty for the American market, which was just beginning to show encouraging signs of recovery after the strikes," a European seller told the site. "Trump's measures are already affecting sales in China, but this would shrink the entire global market. Buyers will refuse to pay the minimum guarantees in the event of a tax on films presented at Cannes or on those they have already acquired. This impacts national distribution agreements, but also the financial players who invest in cinema, because their films will suddenly be worth less. We will no longer be able to produce films with the same budgets, the actors will not receive the same fees. This will destroy the independent sector," warns the boss of a major American production company.

According to the press, Donald Trump decided to intervene on the subject after spending the weekend with Jon Voight, one of his "ambassadors in Hollywood." Faced with filming becoming scarce in the United States, particularly in California, due to high labor costs, the star of Black Ops Cowboy advocated for a federal tax credit (a solution favored by studios) and co-production treaties with foreign countries. Jon Voight only advocated the use of customs duties in a "limited" manner.

Will Donald Trump's interference in the American seventh art encourage the emergence of political stances on the Croisette? In March at the Oscars, the discretion of the nominees and winners was striking . Caution and wait-and-see seemed to be the order of the day despite the mogul's attacks on the studios' pro-diversity programs. Things could be different on the Croisette, where Robert de Niro is expected, receiving an honorary Palme d'Or. The 81-year-old actor has successively called the President of the United States the embodiment of "absolute evil" and a "clown." In response, the New York billionaire claimed that the Taxi Driver star was suffering from "derangement syndrome." The actor has also just publicly expressed his support for his transgender daughter, while the president has put a stop to trans rights.

Attention will also be focused on American director Spike Lee, who will be screening his thriller Highest 2 Lowest out of competition . In 2018, this great defender of the black cause took advantage of his visit to the Croisette to violently insult the man who was serving his first term in the White House. "That son of a bitch didn't denounce the fucking (Klu Klux) Klan (...) and those Nazi sons of bitches," said the filmmaker, who won the Grand Jury Prize for BlacKkKlansman .

A massive contingent of American stars will be strolling the Croisette. Starting with leading figures of the new generation, who have not hesitated to get involved in the past: Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson, and Pedro Pascal . Recently, the star of The Last of Us has made no secret of her support for the trans and LGBTQ+ community.