Zentropa

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This article is about the film company. For the 1991 film known as Zentropa in North America, see Europa (film).
Zentropa
IndustryMotion Picture
Founded1992
HeadquartersHvidovre, Denmark
Key people
Lars von Trier and Peter Aalbæk Jensen
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.

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 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[]

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 the 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 and former CEO, 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]

Selected productions[]

Work Year Director Notes
2021 Feature
Sweat 2020 Magnus von Horn Feature
The Other Lamb 2019 Małgorzata Szumowska Feature
The House That Jack Built 2018 Lars Von Trier Feature
A Second Chance 2014 Susanne Bier Feature
The Model 2015  [da] Feature - The Model in the Danish Film Database
 [da] 2014 Christian E. Christiansen Feature
The Absent One (2014 film) 2014  [da] Feature
The Salvation 2014 Kristian Levring Feature
The Hunt 2013 Thomas Vinterberg Feature
The Keeper of Lost Causes 2013  [da] Feature - The Keeper of Lost Causes in the Danish Film Database
Nymphomaniac 2013 Lars von Trier Feature
A Caretaker's Tale 2012  [da] Feature
A Royal Affair 2012 Nikolaj Arcel Feature
2012 Anders Rønnow Klarlund Feature
Love Is All You Need 2012 Susanne Bier Feature
Perfect Sense 2012 David Mackenzie Feature
Melancholia 2011 Lars von Trier Feature
Rebounce 2011 Feature
Love Is in the Air 2011 Simon Staho Feature
ID A 2011 Christian E. Christiansen Feature
2010 Jørgen Leth Feature - Erotic Man in the Danish Film Database
The Red Chapel 2010 Mads Brügger Documentary
The Woman That Dreamed About a Man 2010 Per Fly Feature
A Family 2010 Pernille Fischer Christensen Feature
In a Better World 2010 Susanne Bier Feature
Truth About Men 2010 Nikolaj Arcel Feature
Donkeys 2010 Feature
Nothing's All Bad 2010  [da] Feature
2010 Daniel Borgman Short fiction
Klown 2010 Mikkel Nørgaard Feature
2009 Christian E. Christiansen Feature
Mammoth 2009 Lukas Moodysson Feature
 [da] 2009 Feature
The Blessing 2009 Heidi Maria Faisst Feature - The Blessing in the Danish Film Database
Antichrist 2009 Lars von Trier Feature
 [da] 2008  [da] Feature
 [da] 2008 Gert Fredholm Feature
Fear Me Not 2008 Kristian Levring Feature
2008 Annette K. Olesen Feature
Island of Lost Souls 2007 Nikolaj Arcel Feature
 [da] 2007 Anders Rønnow Klarlund Feature
Echo 2007 Anders Morgenthaler Feature
At Night 2007 Christian E. Christiansen Short fiction
 [da] 2007 Feature
Råzone 2006 Christian E. Christiansen Feature
The Boss of it All 2006 Lars von Trier Feature
2006 Feature
All About Anna 2005 Jessica Nilsson Feature
Manderlay 2005 Lars von Trier Feature
2005 Feature - Den sidste åndemaner in the Danish Film Database
Brothers 2004 Susanne Bier Feature
 [nl] 2004 Martin Koolhoven Feature
The Five Obstructions 2003 Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth Feature
Sea of Silence 2003 Stijn Coninx Feature
Dogville 2003 Lars von Trier Feature
2002 Feature - Charlie Butterfly in the Danish Film Database
Minor Mishaps 2002 Annette K. Olesen Feature
2002  [da] Feature
Truly Human 2001 Åke Sandgren Feature
One-Hand Clapping 2001 Gert Fredholm Feature
Chop Chop 2001 Niels Arden Oplev Feature
2001 Lars von Trier, Kristian Levring, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, Thomas Vinterberg TV film
 [da] 2000  [da] Feature
Dancer in the dark 2000 Lars von Trier Feature
 [da] 2000 Natasha Arthy Feature
The Bench 2000 Per Fly Feature
Italian for Beginners 2000 Lone Scherfig Feature
The King Is Alive 2000 Kristian Levring Feature
2000 Feature
 [da] 2000 Katrine Wiedemann Feature
Together 2000 Lukas Moodysson Feature
A Summer Tale 2000 Ulf Malmros Feature
HotMen CoolBoyz 2000 Knud Vesterskov Feature
Possessed (1999 film) 1999 Anders Rønnow Klarlund Feature
Pink Prison 1999 Lisbeth Lynghøft Feature
1998 Henning Carlsen Feature
Constance 1998 Knud Vesterskov Feature
1998 Feature
The Last Viking 1997 Jesper W. Nielsen Feature
Credo 1997 Susanne Bier Feature
The Kingdom II 1997 Lars von Trier TV series
Portland 1996 Niels Arden Oplev Feature
Breaking the waves 1996 Lars von Trier Feature
The Greatest Heroes 1996 Thomas Vinterberg Feature
1996 Björn Runge Feature
1996 Anders Rønnow Klarlund Feature
 [da] 1995  [da] Feature
 [da] 1995 Feature
 [da] 1995 Feature
Pan 1995 Henning Carlsen Feature
Á köldum klaka 1995 Friðrik Þór Friðriksson Feature
The Kingdom 1994 Lars von Trier TV series
Bíódagar 1994 Friðrik Þór Friðriksson Feature
 [da] 1993 Carsten Sønder Feature
Family Matters 1993 Susanne Bier Feature
1993 Jørgen Leth Documentary

Subsidiaries[]

References[]

  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

External links[]

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