Zentropa
Zentropa, or Zentropa Entertainments, is a Danish film company started in 1992 by director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen.[1] Zentropa is named after the train company Zentropa in the film Europa (1991), which started the collaboration between von Trier and Jensen.
| Industry | Motion Picture |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animation, comedy, drama |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Lars von Trier and Peter Aalbæk Jensen |
| Headquarters | Hvidovre, Denmark |
Key people | Anders Kjaerhauge (CEO) |
| Products | Film |
| Website | zentropa |
History edit
It has produced over 70 feature films and has become the largest film production company in Scandinavia. It owns a number of subsidiary companies in Europe.[2] Zentropa is also responsible for creating a large studio complex called Filmbyen (Film City), where both Zentropa and many other film-related companies are located.[3]
Zentropa may be best known for creating the Dogme 95 movement, leading to such acclaimed films as Idioterne (1998), Festen (1998) and Mifunes sidste sang (1999).[4]
In 1998, von Trier made history by having his company Zentropa to be the world's first mainstream film company to produce hardcore pornographic films, under the division Puzzy Power. Three of these films, Constance (1998), Pink Prison (1999), and the adult/mainstream crossover-feature All About Anna (2005), were made primarily for a female audience and were extremely successful in Europe, with the first two being directly responsible for the legalising of pornography in Norway in March 2006.[5]
Women too like to see other people having sex. What they don't like is the endless close-ups of hammering bodyparts without a story. Von Trier is the first to have realised this and produced valuable quality porn films for women.
Zentropa's initiative spearheaded a European wave of female-friendly porn films from directors such as Anna Span, Erika Lust and Petra Joy, while von Trier's company Zentropa was forced to abandon the experiment due to pressure from its English business partners.[7] In July 2009, women's magazine Cosmopolitan ranked Pink Prison as No. 1 in its Top Five of the best women's porn, calling it the "role model for the new porn-generation".[8]
Sexual harassment allegations edit
In November 2017, in the wake of the Me Too movement, nine women – all former employees at Zentropa – spoke of an "ingrained" culture of abuse at the studio. Several of those interviewed said that their treatment had prompted them to stop working in the film industry altogether.[9][10] Jensen, the company's co-founder, was specifically accused of sexual misconduct and sidelined from operations. An internal memo stated that he would no longer exercise "influence on the daily leadership of the company [and] will not partake in any management meetings."[11] According to von Trier, Jensen stepped down and passed to Anders Kjaerhauge as CEO of Zentropa[12] when the former's further allegations of harassment came to light.[13]
Selected productions edit
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (November 2022) |
| Work | Year | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Laudrup: A football player | 1993 | Jørgen Leth | Documentary |
| Family Matters | 1993 | Susanne Bier | Feature |
| Pretty Boy (1993 film) | 1993 | Carsten Sønder | Feature |
| Bíódagar | 1994 | Friðrik Þór Friðriksson | Feature |
| The Kingdom | 1994 | Lars von Trier | Miniseries |
| Á köldum klaka | 1995 | Friðrik Þór Friðriksson | Feature |
| Pan | 1995 | Henning Carlsen | Feature |
| The Beast Within (1995 film) | 1995 | Carsten Rudolf | Feature |
| Love Me, Love Me Not (1995 film) | 1995 | Carsten Sønder | Feature |
| Carmen & Babyface | 1995 | Jon Bang Carlsen | Feature |
| The Eighteenth | 1996 | Anders Rønnow Klarlund | Feature |
| Harry & Sonja | 1996 | Björn Runge | Feature |
| The Greatest Heroes | 1996 | Thomas Vinterberg | Feature |
| Breaking the waves | 1996 | Lars von Trier | Feature |
| Portland | 1996 | Niels Arden Oplev | Feature |
| The Kingdom II | 1997 | Lars von Trier | Miniseries |
| Credo | 1997 | Susanne Bier | Feature |
| The Last Viking | 1997 | Jesper W. Nielsen | Feature |
| Love Fools | 1998 | Leif Magnusson | Feature |
| Constance | 1998 | Knud Vesterskov | Feature |
| I Wonder Who's Kissing You Now? | 1998 | Henning Carlsen | Feature |
| Pink Prison | 1999 | Lisbeth Lynghøft | Feature |
| Possessed (1999 film) | 1999 | Anders Rønnow Klarlund | Feature |
| A Summer Tale | 2000 | Ulf Malmros | Feature |
| Together | 2000 | Lukas Moodysson | Feature |
| The lady of Hamre | 2000 | Katrine Wiedemann | Feature |
| Miracle (2000 film) | 2000 | Natasha Arthy | Feature |
| Ikingut | 2000 | Gísli Snær Erlingsson | Feature |
| The King Is Alive | 2000 | Kristian Levring | Feature |
| Italian for Beginners | 2000 | Lone Scherfig | Feature |
| HotMen CoolBoyz | 2000 | Knud Vesterskov | Feature |
| The Dog Hotel | 2000 | Per Åhlin | Animated feature |
| The Bench | 2000 | Per Fly | Feature |
| Dancer in the dark | 2000 | Lars von Trier | Feature |
| Foreign Fields | 2000 | Aage Rais-Nordentoft | Feature |
| D-Dag | 2001 | Lars von Trier, Kristian Levring, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, Thomas Vinterberg | TV film |
| Chop Chop | 2001 | Niels Arden Oplev | Feature |
| One-Hand Clapping | 2001 | Gert Fredholm | Feature |
| Truly Human | 2001 | Åke Sandgren | Feature |
| House of Hearts | 2002 | Elisabeth Rygaard | Feature |
| Minor Mishaps | 2002 | Annette K. Olesen | Feature |
| Charlie Butterfly | 2002 | Dariusz Steiness | Feature - Charlie Butterfly in the Danish Film Database |
| Dogville | 2003 | Lars von Trier | Feature |
| Sea of Silence | 2003 | Stijn Coninx | Feature |
| The Five Obstructions | 2003 | Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth | Feature |
| Strings | 2004 | Anders Rønnow Klarlund | Animated feature |
| South (2004 film) | 2004 | Martin Koolhoven | Feature |
| Brothers | 2004 | Susanne Bier | Feature |
| When Children Play in the Sky | 2005 | Lorenzo Hendel | Feature - Den sidste åndemaner in the Danish Film Database |
| Manderlay | 2005 | Lars von Trier | Feature |
| All About Anna | 2005 | Jessica Nilsson | Feature |
| Snuppet | 2006 | Martin Vrede Nielsen | Feature |
| The Boss of it All | 2006 | Lars von Trier | Feature |
| Råzone | 2006 | Christian E. Christiansen | Feature |
| The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1 | 2007 | Jacob Thuesen | Feature |
| At Night | 2007 | Christian E. Christiansen | Short fiction |
| Echo | 2007 | Anders Morgenthaler | Feature |
| How to Get Rid of Others | 2007 | Anders Rønnow Klarlund | Feature |
| Island of Lost Souls | 2007 | Nikolaj Arcel | Feature |
| Little Soldier | 2008 | Annette K. Olesen | Feature |
| Fear Me Not | 2008 | Kristian Levring | Feature |
| Oneway-ticket to Korsør | 2008 | Gert Fredholm | Feature |
| Go with peace Jamil | 2008 | Omar Shargawi | Feature |
| Zoomers | 2009 | Christian E. Christiansen | Feature |
| Metropia | 2009 | Tarik Saleh | Animated feature |
| Mammoth | 2009 | Lukas Moodysson | Feature |
| Love & Rage (2009 film) | 2009 | Morten Giese | Feature |
| The Blessing | 2009 | Heidi Maria Faisst | Feature - The Blessing in the Danish Film Database |
| Antichrist | 2009 | Lars von Trier | Feature |
| Klown | 2010 | Mikkel Nørgaard | Feature |
| Berik | 2010 | Daniel Borgman | Short fiction |
| Nothing's All Bad | 2010 | Mikkel Munch-Fals | Feature |
| Donkeys | 2010 | Morag McKinnon | Feature |
| Truth About Men | 2010 | Nikolaj Arcel | Feature |
| In a Better World | 2010 | Susanne Bier | Feature; Won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film |
| A Family | 2010 | Pernille Fischer Christensen | Feature |
| The Woman That Dreamed About a Man | 2010 | Per Fly | Feature |
| The Red Chapel | 2010 | Mads Brügger | Documentary |
| Erotic Man | 2010 | Jørgen Leth | Feature - Erotic Man in the Danish Film Database |
| ID A | 2011 | Christian E. Christiansen | Feature |
| Love Is in the Air | 2011 | Simon Staho | Feature |
| Vlogger | 2011 | Ricard Gras | Machinima; produced as Zentropa International Spain |
| Rebounce | 2011 | Heidi Maria Faisst | Feature |
| Melancholia | 2011 | Lars von Trier | Feature |
| Perfect Sense | 2012 | David Mackenzie | Feature |
| Love Is All You Need | 2012 | Susanne Bier | Feature |
| The Secret Society of Fine Arts | 2012 | Anders Rønnow Klarlund | Feature |
| A Royal Affair | 2012 | Nikolaj Arcel | Feature |
| A Caretaker's Tale | 2012 | Katrine Wiedemann | Feature |
| Nymphomaniac | 2013 | Lars von Trier | Feature |
| The Keeper of Lost Causes | 2013 | Mikkel Nørgaard | Feature - The Keeper of Lost Causes in the Danish Film Database |
| The Hunt | 2013 | Thomas Vinterberg | Feature |
| The Salvation | 2014 | Kristian Levring | Feature |
| The Absent One (2014 film) | 2014 | Mikkel Nørgaard | Feature |
| On the Edge (2014 film) | 2014 | Christian E. Christiansen | Feature |
| A Second Chance | 2014 | Susanne Bier | Feature |
| Vitello Dugs a Hole | 2015 | Dorte Bengtson | Animated short feature |
| The Model | 2015 | Mads Matthiesen | Feature - The Model in the Danish Film Database |
| The Day Will Come | 2016 | Jesper W. Nielsen | Feature |
| Vitello | 2018 | Dorte Bengtson | Animated feature |
| The House That Jack Built | 2018 | Lars Von Trier | Feature |
| Journal 64 | 2018 | Christoffer Boe | Feature |
| The Other Lamb | 2019 | Małgorzata Szumowska | Feature |
| Monty and the Street Party | 2019 | Anders Morgenthaler, Mikael Wulff | Animated feature |
| Hope | 2019 | Maria Sødahl | Feature |
| Sweat | 2020 | Magnus von Horn | Feature |
| Riders of Justice | 2020 | Anders Thomas Jensen | Feature |
| Another Round | 2020 | Thomas Vinterberg | Feature; Won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film |
| Rushed | 2021 | Vibeke Muasya | Feature |
| The Kingdom Exodus | 2022 | Lars Von Trier | Miniseries |
| Forever | 2022 | Frelle Petersen | Feature |
| Together 99 (Tillsammans 99) | 2023 | Lukas Moodysson | Feature film |
| Families Like Ours | TBA | Thomas Vinterberg | Miniseries |
| Just Like Beauty | TBA | TBA | Feature |
Subsidiaries edit
- EF Rental
- Electric Parc
- Puzzy Power
- Trust Film Sales
- Zentropa Real
- Zentropa Interaction
- Zentropa Rekorder
- Zentropa Klippegangen
- Zentropa International Köln GmbH
- Zentropa International Poland
- Zentropa International Sweden
Awards edit
Zentropa won many awards and nominations from local ceremonies including Robert and Bodil, as well as two Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for In a Better World and Another Round, both were directed by critically acclaimed Dogme 95-competitors Susanne Bier and Thomas Vinterberg.
References edit
- ^ Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema. Scarecrow Press. 31 August 2012. pp. 417–. ISBN 978-0-8108-5524-3.
- ^ Angus Finney (10 October 2014). The International Film Business: A Market Guide Beyond Hollywood. Routledge. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-1-136-29503-4.
- ^ Anne Mette Lundtofte (13 May 2013). Zentropia. Gyldendal. pp. 74–. ISBN 978-87-02-14732-2.
- ^ Palgrave Connect (Online Service) (11 December 2013). Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 229–. ISBN 978-1-137-28218-7.
- ^ "Norwegian Media Authority none-censorship decision" (PDF). Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ Stern No. 40, 27 September 2007
- ^ Thomas Vilhelm: Filmbyen (Ekstra Bladets Forlag, 2003, ISBN 978-87-7731-274-8), page 74
- ^ Cosmopolitan (German edition), July 2009, page 30
- ^ "Danish authorities investigating claims of sexual abuse at Lars von Trier's studio Zentropa". 13 November 2017.
- ^ "Danish Authorities to Investigate Sexual Harassment Claims Against Zentropa Co-Founder Peter Aalbæk Jensen". 13 November 2017.
- ^ Zentropa Sidelines Co-Founder Peter Aalbæk Jensen Amid Harassment Allegations, Elsa Keslassy, Variety, November 15, 2017
- ^ Mitchell2022-05-15T17:00:00+01:00, Wendy. "The Euro 75: Zentropa (Denmark)". Screen. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Lars von Trier producer: 'I'll stop slapping asses' in wake of #MeToo". the Guardian. 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
External links edit
- Official website
- Zentropa in the Danish Film Database
- Zentropa at IMDb