Lars von Trier thrown out from Cannes

A new dimension of the Scandinavian depressing director's syndrome... 

  • Film director Lars von Trier has been condemned and declared “persona non grata” by the Cannes Film Festival.
  • Danish film director Lars von Trier has been condemned and declared “persona non grata” by the Cannes Film Festival for saying he understands and sympathizes with Adolf Hitler. A statement from Cannes organizers Thursday castigated von Trier for his comments a day earlier. It is an unprecedented move by the festival that bestowed its highest honor on the director’s film “Dancer in the Dark” back in 2000.

  • Though the statement did not specify whether von Trier’s current film, “Melancholia,” has been booted from Cannes, a spokeswoman for the festival press office said it remained in the competition for prizes, which will be handed out at a closing ceremony Sunday. At a news conference for the film Wednesday, von Trier said in a rambling train of thought that he understood and sympathized with Hitler. He said afterward he had been joking and later issued an apology.

  • We covered von Trier in a few stories in Nordic Reach Magazine, most relevant might be Sad Scandinavian Cinema