24/04/2009

Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier will be vying for the Palme d’Or for the eighth time when his new film Antichrist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars von Trier
film profile], starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe, screens at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24).

Trier first competed in Cannes 25 years ago with Element of Crime. Three of his subsequent films won awards: Europa (1991), Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer in the Dark (2000), winner of the Palme d’Or and Best Actress for Björk.

Written by von Trier, Antichrist is an intense drama about evil and love between two people. Gainsbourg and Dafoe play a grieving couple who retreat to Eden, an isolated cabin in the woods where they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.

Antichrist was lensed by the director’s Oscar-winning, long-time collaborator Anthony Dod Mantle. The film is produced by Meta Louise Foldager for Zentropa, in co-production with Germany, France, Sweden, Italy and Poland.

TrustNordisk has already pre-sold the film to over 30 territories. The Danish release is scheduled for May 29 (Nordisk Film) and the French release (Les Films du Losange) on June 3.

Another Danish entry was announced yesterday: the animated short film The Sylphid by Dorte Bengtson, which will compete as part of the Cinefondation and Short Films programme. The Sylphid is Bengtson’s graduation film from the Danish Film School.