'Nouvelle Vague' director Richard Linklater takes aim at President's tariff plan

Richard Linklater, the director of Nouvelle Vague, has talked about President Donald Trump’s film tariff proposal.

While having a conversation with reporters during the Cannes press conference for his new film Nouvelle Vague, the 63-year-old American filmmaker took a jab at Trump’s tariff suggestion on films by saying, “That’s not gonna happen. That guy changes his mind 50 times. Film is our No. 1 U.S. export.”

For the unversed, Trump has suggested putting a 120% tariff on films that get a foreign tax credit.

The debate is over this plan because movies are digital, so they may not be taxed under the World Free Trade Agreement, as Linklater pointed out, “Motion pictures aren’t car parts. It would be kind of dumb to… Whatever, we don’t have to talk about that.”

Moving forward, he was asked if making movies in the United States has become more expensive.

Answering the question, Linklater responded, “I think the true indie film, the no-budget film, has cost the same for the last 60 years. It’s always about how much you have, so that doesn’t change much.”

Before concluding, it is pertinent to mention that Nouvelle Vague will be released on October 8, 2025.