Tilda Swinton Announces Break From Acting, Explains Presence at Berlin Film Festival Amid Calls to Boycott

Tilda Swinton took a stand while attending the 2025 Berlin Film Festival.

The 64-year-old actress was honored with the Golden Bear at the festival and decided to attend amid calls to boycott to show support for Gaza amid the war with Israel.

While there, Tilda used her platform to advocate for those who have been affected by the war. She explained why she ignored the call to boycott.

She also announced plans to take a break from acting and talked about what that would look like.

Keep reading to find out more…

According to reporting by Variety, Tilda denounced the “state-perpetrated and internationally-enabled mass murder is currently actively terrorizing more than one part of our world.”

“I am here today — and yesterday and tomorrow and the next day — because I decided to come, I decided it was more important for me to come. I was given, thanks to the festival, a platform which I decided in a personal moment was potentially more useful to all our causes than me not turning up. It was a judgment, and a personal judgment call, that I take full responsibility for,” she explained.

Tilda added that she had “enormous respect and understanding” for the boycott, saying that people were searching for “ways of feeling powerful” amid challenging times.

“Because what we’re all up against is this feeling of powerlessness and this is, in a way, the most difficult thing we’re all having to deal with right now,” she said. “And so any powerful action, gesture we can make feels like a good option. I understand absolutely that boycotting can feel and very often is the most powerful thing we can do.”

In regards to her break from Hollywood, Tilda implied that it would start after her appearance at the festival and said that it was “something that I’ve been looking forward to for 15 years.”

Tilda said that she wanted to use this time to “do something different.”

“I can’t quite say what it is, but I can say I’m not shooting a film for the rest of this year,” she explained. “I want more time, I want time to develop projects — some are in cinema, some are not — but I need time. And as you know, filmmaking is a merciless mistress and I’ve been under the lash for a while.”

She continued, saying, “I need a break, so I’m going to have one. I’m going to have some peace and quiet and figure out what the next 40 years are.”

The actress has recently hinted at plans to retire from acting.