Mathieu Kassovitz, the actor‑director born to a Hungarian father and a French mother, spoke in Budapest shortly before giving a masterclass at Uránia. The 59‑year‑old visited the Hungarian film archive where he viewed near‑century‑old animation drawings made by his grandfather, Kassowitz Félix, and later told interviewers that he believes cinema as it used to be is effectively over. After not directing a feature film for 15 years, Kassovitz says the rise of artificial intelligence has renewed his interest in filmmaking.
Family roots and survival
Kassowitz Félix was a visual artist who made animated films in the 1930s. During the war he was deported to a labor camp, where he began drawing and made postcards for soldiers as a way to survive. Kassovitz recounted that one of those postcards later even reached a space station — a detail he described as remarkable. He linked his artistic roots to his grandfather and his father, and recalled the family’s particular brand of humor, which he characterized as a typical „Hungarian Jewish” irony: positive remarks frequently undercut by a darker punchline.
Disillusionment with contemporary cinema
Kassovitz stated bluntly that, in his view, „cinema is finished.” He has not directed a feature film in 15 years and appears disenchanted with the current industry. He argued that what people now call filmmaking is different from the art he grew up with: previously, filmmakers needed extended training and knowledge of film history, whereas today a 15‑ to 25‑year‑old can produce striking films with an iPhone and YouTube tutorials, often lacking broader cinematic education.
The Paris scene that produced La Haine
Recalling the late‑1980s and early‑1990s Parisian subcultures that shaped his generation and his 1995 film La Haine (this year 31 years old according to the interview’s timeline), Kassovitz described a lively, politicized milieu of punks, ska fans, rockers, graffitists and the incoming influence of New York hip‑hop. He said the scene was intensely engaged with social issues and personal confrontation: people could not hide behind screens, and disputes were often settled in person. He even admitted to fighting skinheads during that period.
AI’s role: creative tool or threat?
Kassovitz compared the arrival of AI tools in filmmaking to the disruptive introduction of CGI. AI enables the creation of images and scenes previously unimaginable, but it must be used intelligently and requires substantial work — it is not magic. Paradoxically, he argued, AI can bring filmmakers closer to older modes of production by reintroducing serendipity: CGI tends to deliver precisely what you request, while AI can produce unexpected results that open up creative possibilities.
At the same time he warned about ethical and practical dangers: AI can generate convincing but fake performances, citing examples of AI‑generated likenesses of Denzel Washington and Kevin Spacey as alarming precedents. The same technology that helps artists could also be used maliciously.
How production will change
Kassovitz predicted that AI and digital technologies will transform shooting methods. Rather than closing a whole street, rigging lights and creating artificial rain for a single scene, producers will increasingly shoot actors in simpler conditions and generate the surrounding environment afterward. He said this is one reason why film has become interesting to him again: we are witnessing the end of one era and the start of another.
Blockbusters, Star Wars and the entertainment industry
He criticized modern Hollywood blockbusters as entertainment products rather than true cinema, arguing that their aim is mass entertainment and commercial success — similar in purpose to theme park attractions. Nonetheless, he acknowledged the skill of the people who build such productions and found it impressive to see technologies like interactive LED walls in use. He thinks it may be possible to combine the best elements of big studio resources with more personal creativity.
Personal motives and the future
Kassovitz said he participated in the Budapest events partly to reconnect with family roots and out of curiosity about others’ working methods. Having begun to integrate AI into an animated project, he is experimenting with these new tools as a director. He believes a turning point is near: once a commercially successful film appears whose visuals are largely AI‑generated and audiences pay for it, production models will change widely.
Conclusion
Kassovitz remains respectful of the great directors from whom he learned, but he no longer feels that contemporary filmmaking is the same art form he grew up with. Still, the technological shift offers fresh creative opportunities, and for that reason he has renewed interest in what can be achieved with the tools of the present.
Photo credit (as reported in the coverage): Hevesi‑Szabó Lujza / Telex (image referenced from the event coverage)
