**Kristen Stewart Calls for Women in Film to ‘Print Their Own Currency’ at Academy Women’s Luncheon**
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a rooftop space filled with Hollywood’s most influential figures, actor Kristen Stewart delivered an unflinching speech calling on women in film to “print (their) own currency” and reject the industry’s tokenism, while celebrating the next generation of female filmmakers.
Stewart, who directed *The Chronology of Water*, an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir, began her remarks with humor but quickly turned to the pressing issue of gender inequity in Hollywood.
“It’s awkward to talk about inequality for some people,” Stewart said Tuesday at the Academy Women’s Luncheon. “We can discuss wage gaps and taxes on tampons and measure it in lots of quantifiable ways, but the violence of silencing. It’s like we’re not even supposed to be angry. But I can eat this podium with a fork and knife, I’m so angry.”
Stewart was invited to speak about the women who inspire her and began with Yuknavitch, whose memoir she credited with “giving voice to certain truths I inherently understood.”
“Hard truths, when spoken out loud, become springboards to freedom,” Stewart said. “The permission to be unpalatable, unsanitary, and to come from the inside out led me to acknowledge the invisible cage that we are all living in and how easy it is to story our way out there.”
The keynote speaker at the event held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Stewart shared the stage with attendees including Tessa Thompson, Kate Hudson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Claire Foy, Kerry Condon, Patty Jenkins, and Emma Mackey.
Many actors attending donned Chanel clothing, jewelry, shoes, makeup, and accessories. The luxury fashion brand, which sponsored the event, has a long association with film and women creatives dating back to founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who saw an opportunity to empower women through her designs in movies.
Reflecting on women’s filmmaking in the post-MeToo era, Stewart expressed cautious optimism that stories made by and for women were finally gaining recognition.
“But I can now attest to the bare-knuckle brawling that it takes every step of the way when the content is too dark, too taboo,” she said, before adding, “our business is in a state of emergency.”
The audience murmured in agreement as Stewart paused, then continued, “We are allowed to be proud of ourselves. But let’s try not to be tokenized. Let’s start printing our own currency.”
Tuesday’s event aimed to unite women from all facets of the filmmaking community and to celebrate the Academy Gold Fellowship for Women, a program supporting emerging women filmmakers.
Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter presented this year’s fellowship awardees: U.S. recipient Alina Simone and international fellow Marlén Viñayo.
Carter described mentorship as the crucial bridge between aspiration and opportunity.
“For me, mentorship was someone seeing me before I could see myself,” said Carter, the costume designer behind the *Black Panther* films and the first Black woman to win two Oscars in 2023.
“From my college professor Linda Bolton Smith, who refused to let me quit, to director Spike Lee, who gave me my first film, to the late John Singleton, who gave me room to learn and grow — that’s what mentorship and fellowship do,” Carter said. “They say to every woman filmmaker and artist: We see you. We believe in you. You belong here.”
From Carter’s inspiring praise to Stewart’s bold statements, the spirit of solidarity and sisterhood remained the centerpiece of the afternoon.
“I am so for you,” Stewart told the room. “I hope you are too. Let’s make art in the face of it.”
https://wtop.com/fashion/2025/11/kristen-stewart-urges-solidarity-and-honesty-in-emotional-keynote-at-academy-womens-luncheon/