Angelina Jolie emphasised the importance of freedom of expression as she presented her latest film, “Couture,” at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in northern Spain on September 21, 2025.
During a news conference after the screening, Jolie revealed how deeply she had been unsettled by the state of politics and culture in America, as it comes under increasing attack, both literally and otherwise, including the undermining of free speech.
“I love my country, but I do not know, it’s an awkward thing to say the word ‘proud’ right now. “Jolie said of freedom of speech in America.\”Putin and Trump are leaders with deep insecurities and fragile egos,” she continued.
“Anything, anywhere that restricts or controls personal expression and freedoms is hazardous. We are all living in very, very heavy times together.
Her remarks came amid increasing outrage in the U.S., where President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked critical press organisations and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended for his statements about the death of conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk.
Couture and Jolie’s Mega-Screen Comeback
Jolie made an appearance at the festival with French film director Alice Winocour. Jolie, who plays Maxine Walker, an American film director juggling divorce and a dire prognosis amid Paris Fashion Week, is due to compete for the festival’s prized Golden Shell. On the way, Walker falls in love with a fellow worker, played by French actor Louis Garrel.
The part had a profound impact on Jolie, who has been open about her own health issues. In 2013, she had a preventive double mastectomy. She later had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after learning that she carried an elevated risk of cancer due to a genetic mutation. She loses both her mother and grandmother to this disease.
Looking back on her performance, Jolie confessed she often found herself thinking of her own departed mother during shooting.
“I wish she could write more and speak out more as I have been able to do, and lead a lesson doing so,” Jolie added tearfully.
“There’s something very unique about women’s cancers, because it certainly has an impact on who we are as women.”
An Actress, An Advocate
Fifty-year-old Jolie is a Hollywood royalty, having received an Oscar for her performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999). But her voice goes beyond the screen. In San Sebastián, she gave voice not only to the promotion of Couture but also to a reflection on how they felt worried about freedom, division, and human dignity all over the world.
The festival audience had embraced the film and her straightforward sentiments, and Jolie reminded the world that at its finest, cinema is more than just an escape; it’s a call to empathy, resilience, and understanding in troubled times.