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Zentropa

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Zentropa
IndustryMotion Picture
GenreAnimation, comedy, drama
Founded1992
FounderLars von Trier and Peter Aalbæk Jensen
HeadquartersHvidovre, Denmark
Key people
Anders Kjaerhauge (CEO)
ProductsFilm
Websitezentropa.dk

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.

History

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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.

— Stern No. 40, 27 September 2007[6]

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

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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

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Work Year Director Notes
Michael Laudrup: A football player 1993 Jørgen Leth Documentary
Family Matters 1993 Susanne Bier Feature
Pretty Boy (1993 film) [da] 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) [da] 1995 Carsten Rudolf Feature
Love Me, Love Me Not (1995 film) [da] 1995 Carsten Sønder Feature
Carmen & Babyface [da] 1995 Jon Bang Carlsen [da] 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 [da] 2000 Katrine Wiedemann Feature
Miracle (2000 film) [da] 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 [da] 2000 Aage Rais-Nordentoft [da] 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 [da] 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) [nl] 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 [da] 2007 Jacob Thuesen Feature
At Night 2007 Christian E. Christiansen Short fiction
Echo 2007 Anders Morgenthaler Feature
How to Get Rid of Others [da] 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 [da] 2008 Gert Fredholm Feature
Go with peace Jamil [da] 2008 Omar Shargawi [da] Feature
Zoomers 2009 Christian E. Christiansen Feature
Metropia 2009 Tarik Saleh Animated feature
Mammoth 2009 Lukas Moodysson Feature
Love & Rage (2009 film) [da] 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 [da] 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 [da] Feature
Nymphomaniac 2013 Lars von Trier Feature
The Keeper of Lost Causes 2013 Mikkel Nørgaard [da] 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 [da] Feature
On the Edge (2014 film) [da] 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 [da] 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 [da] 2018 Christoffer Boe Feature
The Other Lamb 2019 Małgorzata Szumowska Feature
Monty and the Street Party [da] 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

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Awards

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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

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  1. ^ Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema. Scarecrow Press. 31 August 2012. pp. 417–. ISBN 978-0-8108-5524-3.
  2. ^ Angus Finney (10 October 2014). The International Film Business: A Market Guide Beyond Hollywood. Routledge. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-1-136-29503-4.
  3. ^ Anne Mette Lundtofte (13 May 2013). Zentropia. Gyldendal. pp. 74–. ISBN 978-87-02-14732-2.
  4. ^ Palgrave Connect (Online Service) (11 December 2013). Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 229–. ISBN 978-1-137-28218-7.
  5. ^ "Norwegian Media Authority none-censorship decision" (PDF). Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  6. ^ Stern No. 40, 27 September 2007
  7. ^ Thomas Vilhelm: Filmbyen (Ekstra Bladets Forlag, 2003, ISBN 978-87-7731-274-8), page 74
  8. ^ Cosmopolitan (German edition), July 2009, page 30
  9. ^ "Danish authorities investigating claims of sexual abuse at Lars von Trier's studio Zentropa". 13 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Danish Authorities to Investigate Sexual Harassment Claims Against Zentropa Co-Founder Peter Aalbæk Jensen". 13 November 2017.
  11. ^ Zentropa Sidelines Co-Founder Peter Aalbæk Jensen Amid Harassment Allegations, Elsa Keslassy, Variety, November 15, 2017
  12. ^ 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)
  13. ^ "Lars von Trier producer: 'I'll stop slapping asses' in wake of #MeToo". the Guardian. 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
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