Biography
Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches. He is known for his female-centric parables and his exploration of controversial subject matter. Von Trier began making his own films at the age of 11 after receiving a Super-8 camera as a gift, and his first publicly released film was an experimental short called The Orchid Gardene...
Known For
Complete Filmography
Bo Being Bo Widerberg
2025
as Self
The documentary chronicles Bo Widerberg's journey from 1960s Malmö, where he worked as a writer and film critic, to his successes as a director in Sto...
Creation of the Kingdom of Exodus
2022
as Self / Director / Devil
Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creative challenges Lars von Trier presents his cast and crew to bring his vision to life from script t...
Lars von Trier: The Burden From Donald Duck
2020
as Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier was interviewed by Christian Lund at his home outside Copenhagen in November 2020.
The Idiots Who Started The Party
2020
as Himself
Danish film has never felt stronger on the international stage than it did with the Dogme films, which at the world premiere of 'The Party' and 'The I...
Living the Light: Robby Müller
2018
as Self
For her extraordinary film essay, Living the Light, Director and Director of Photography Claire Pijman had access to the thousands of Hi8 video diarie...
Bergman: A Year in a Life
2018
as Self
The year 1957 was one of the most prolific for the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman: he shot two films, released two of his most celebrated films and ...
The House That Jack Built
2018
Story, Director, Writer
Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering...
Plankton Salesmen
2017
as Self (archive footage)
A nostalgic look at the birth and death of arthouse film distribution in the early 2000s in Russia. The story of the Cinema Without Borders company a...
En invitation fra Lars von Trier
2015
Arteholic
2014
as Self
Palm Springs resident and film and art legend Udo Kier is "arteholic". He lives, breathes and makes art and at times he is even a living art piece. In...
Colors
2013
as Fuck Putas Edition
The most suffocating is the awareness that nothing is happening. All the veins are drying without the blood running through them. I came to Barão Ger...
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II
2013
Director, Writer
The continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adult life and what led to her being in Seligman's care.
Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
2013
Director, Writer
A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac...
Trespassing Bergman
2013
as Self
In the sixties, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) built a house on the remote island of Fårö, located in the Baltic Sea, and left Stockholm...
Side by Side
2012
as Self
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmak...
A Royal Affair
2012
Executive Producer, Script Supervisor
A young queen falls in love with her physician, and they start a revolution that changes their nation forever.
Melancholia
2011
Director, Screenplay
Justine and Michael are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of her sister Claire, and brother-in-law John. Despite Claire’s be...
Dimension
2010
Director, Writer
Dimension is a short film written and directed by Lars von Trier, released in 2010. The film was shot in three-minute segments over several years. The...
… But Film Is My Mistress
2010
as Self
Guided by Liv Ullmann and with commentaries from a number of prominent filmmakers for whom Bergman is and remains an important influence - such as Woo...
Antichrist
2009
Director, Writer
A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course...
Ernst-Hugo
2008
as Self
A gripping portrait of the dramatic, extravagant and ego-centric actor Ernst-Hugo Järegård (1928-1998) who would always be at the center of everything...
The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1
2007
as Narrator (voice)
Erik Nietzsche is an intelligent but in many ways inexperienced shy young man who is convinced that he wants to be a film director. In the late 1970s,...
The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1
2007
Screenplay
Erik Nietzsche is an intelligent but in many ways inexperienced shy young man who is convinced that he wants to be a film director. In the late 1970s,...
To Each His Own Cinema
2007
as The filmmaker (segment "Occupations")
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmak...
To Each His Own Cinema
2007
Director
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmak...
Cinema 16: European Short Films (U.S. Edition)
2007
Director
A collection of short films by 16 European directors.
Occupations
2007
as Self
Lars von Trier plays himself, berating and violently hammering a loudmouthed businessman to death during the premiere of Manderlay.
Occupations
2007
Director
Lars von Trier plays himself, berating and violently hammering a loudmouthed businessman to death during the premiere of Manderlay.
Filmbyen, la nouvelle Mecque du cinéma ?
2007
as self
Filmbyen is a cinema-town created by Lars Von Trier (director) et Peter Aalbek Jensen (producer). They founded together a company whiwh regroups all t...
The Boss of It All
2006
as Narrator (uncredited)
An IT company hires an actor to serve as the company's president in order to help the business get sold to a cranky Icelander.
The Boss of It All
2006
Director, Writer
An IT company hires an actor to serve as the company's president in order to help the business get sold to a cranky Icelander.
Cinema 16: European Short Films (European Edition)
2006
Director
A collection of short films by 16 European directors.
The Road to Manderlay
2005
as Self - director
Le court des grands
2005
Director
A program of debut shorts from some of cinema's greatest diectors. Curated by Emir Kusturica and Stephen Frears, featured auteurs include George Lucas...
All About Anna
2005
Executive Producer
Anna is a young costume designer, focused on her job and wary of getting caught in romantic relationships. She has just found a new apartment, and is ...
Tilbageblik på Idioterne
2005
as Self - director
A Conversation with Lars von Trier
2005
as Interviewee
Filmmaker Eva Ziemsen was determined to interview renowned film director, Lars von Trier. Her provocative offer, to conduct the interview nude, led to...
Manderlay
2005
Director, Writer, Camera Operator
In 1933, after leaving Dogville, Grace Margaret Mulligan sees a slave being punished at a cotton farm called Manderlay. Officially, slavery is illegal...
Looking Back At The Idiots
2005
In 2005 the cast and crew with Lars Von Trier gatherd to talk about Lars Von Trier's Dogma film The Idiots.
Dear Wendy
2005
Screenplay
In a blue-collar American town, a group of teens bands together to form the Dandies, a gang of gunslingers led by Dick Dandelion. Following a code of ...
Dogville Confessions
2004
as Self
A documentary on the creation of Lars von Trier's fascinating drama Dogville starring amongst others Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Stellan Skarsgård, B...
Visions of Europe
2004
Producer
Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.
Kingdom Hospital
2004
Writer
Stephen King's take on the masterpiece series by Lars von Trier. The story takes place in a hospital in Lewiston, Maine, built on the site of a Civil ...
The South
2004
Producer
Martje is the manager of a successful laundry service, but in her personal life she struggles with her self-image after the amputation of one of her b...
Dogville: The Pilot
2003
Director, Writer
Dogville: The Pilot was shot during 2001 in the pre-production phase to test whether the concept of chalk lines and sparse scenery would work. The 15-...
The Five Obstructions
2003
as Self / Obstructor (segment "The Conversations")
Lars von Trier challenges his mentor, filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake Leth’s 1967 short film The Perfect Human five times, each with a different set ...
The Five Obstructions
2003
Director, Writer, Idea
Lars von Trier challenges his mentor, filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake Leth’s 1967 short film The Perfect Human five times, each with a different set ...
Inside Björk
2003
as Self
Following the career of Björk, this documentary looks at her early musical career with local icelandic bands, her acclaimed stint in The Sugarcubes, a...
Trier, Kidman og Cannes
2003
as Self
Dogville
2003
Director, Camera Operator, Writer
When beautiful young Grace arrives in the isolated township of Dogville, the small community agrees to hide her from a gang of ruthless gangsters, and...
Screaming Men
2003
Thanks
A documentary film about the Finnish screaming male choir.
The Purified
2003
as Himself
The filmmakers who created the Dogme Manifesto reflect, argue, and watch clips of their own films.
Wag the Dogma
2001
Quixotic Martino Sclavi dives deep into the Danish film scene to uncover the truth behind the Dogme 95 Manifesto, along the way the film systematicall...
Kayaking On The Top Of The World
2000
Executive Producer
In 1999 two Danish adventurers, John Andersen and Frederik Jacobi, set out to travel north around Greenland, on foot, on skies, and in kayak. As they ...
Italian for Beginners
2000
Associate Producer
Several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their...
Von Trier's 100 Eyes
2000
as Self
Although at first sight this might look like a simple ‘making of DANCER IN THE DARK’, the later developments in the film reveal the whole drama of Lar...
The Name of This Film Is Dogme95
2000
as Self
The Name of this Film is Dogme95 is an irreverent documentary exploring the origins of Dogme95, the most influential movement in world cinema for a ge...
Dancer in the Dark
2000
Director, Camera Operator, Writer
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder a...
HotMen CoolBoyz
2000
Producer
HotMen CoolBoyz (or H.M.C.B.) is a Danish adult film directed by Knud Vesterskov and starring Ron Athey and Billy Herrington. It is the only gay hardc...
The Exhibited
2000
Jesper Jargil's documentary portrait of a bizarre piece of Danish experimental theater directed by Lars von Trier.
FreeDogme
2000
as himself
Marie Berthelius and Roger Narbonne conference call Lars von Trier, Win Wenders, Lone Scherfig, and Jean-Marc Barr and are also linked by digital vide...
100 Cameras: Capturing Lars von Trier's Vision
2000
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of "Dancer in the Dark" by Lars von Trier.
D-Day
2000
Director
Four people plan to rob a bank on new year's eve, when no one will notice because of the celebrations.
The Copyist
1999
as Self
It is the young Christian Tafdrup's (Tafdrup himself) greatest wish to become a real film director. He joins the reputable company Zentropa, where he ...
Dogma 95, a Serious Game?
1999
as Self
Shot in Denmark in 1999, the documentary features exclusive interviews with the creators of the filmmaking movement Dogma 95: Lars von Trier, Thomas V...
The Humiliated
1998
A very intimate look on Lars von Trier and his cast and crew, during the production of "The Idiots".
Constance
1998
Producer
Constance, a young woman, arrives at the mansion of the experienced Lola, where she is initiated into the mysteries of sexuality.
The Idiots
1998
as Interviewer (voice) (uncredited)
A mix of home-video and documentary styles about a group of young people who have decided to get to know their “inner-idiots” and thus not only facing...
The Idiots
1998
Screenplay, Director of Photography, Director
A mix of home-video and documentary styles about a group of young people who have decided to get to know their “inner-idiots” and thus not only facing...
Im Laboratorium des Doktor von Trier: Zurück zur Magie des Kinos
1998
as Self
German/French TV documentary portraying Danish film director Lars von Trier.
Lars From 1 - 10
1998
Breaking The Waves director Lars Von Trier invents his own set of rules for filmmaking.
Ironie und Gottessuche - Das Kino des Lars von Trier
1998
as Self
Documentary on Lars von Trier
Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier
1997
A portrait of Denmark's most acclaimed and controversial director, Lars von Trier. A meeting with von Trier on a private level as well as with his fil...
The Kingdom II
1997
as Self (uncredited)
Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, the city and country's main hospital, nicknamed "Riget", "Riget" means "the realm" or "t...
The Kingdom II
1997
Director, Screenplay
Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, the city and country's main hospital, nicknamed "Riget", "Riget" means "the realm" or "t...
Breaking the Waves
1996
Director, Writer
In a small and conservative Scottish village, a woman's paralytic husband convinces her to have extramarital intercourse so she can tell him about it ...
I Am Curious, Film
1995
as Self
The Scandinavian entry in the BFI's Century of Cinema series of documentaries
The Kingdom
1994
as Self (uncredited)
Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, the city and country's main hospital, nicknamed "Riget", a number of characters, staff a...
The Kingdom
1994
Director, Screenplay
Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, the city and country's main hospital, nicknamed "Riget", a number of characters, staff a...
The Making of Europa
1991
as Self - Director
Documentary about the making of Lars von Trier's 1991 film.
Europa
1991
as Jew
A young, idealist American gets a job as a train conductor for the Zentropa railway network in postwar, US-occupied Frankfurt. As various people try t...
Europa
1991
Director, Screenplay, Continuity
A young, idealist American gets a job as a train conductor for the Zentropa railway network in postwar, US-occupied Frankfurt. As various people try t...
Trier's Element
1991
as Himself
Behind-the-scenes documentary about Lars von Trier's latest movie Europa (1991). Also features unique footage of Trier and cast shooting a bit of foot...
Portrait of Lars von Trier
1991
as Himself
Danish documentary from TV2 in 1991.
Medea
1989
Director, Adaptation
It is an adaptation of the Greek tragedy Medea from Euripides, a version where the Gods willing and intervations are absent. Medea is the tragic chara...
Epidemic
1987
as Self / Dr. Mesmer
A director and a screenwriter write a screenplay together about a globally spreading epidemic. Unbeknownst to them, an outbreak develops around them i...
Epidemic
1987
Director, Screenplay, Camera Operator
A director and a screenwriter write a screenplay together about a globally spreading epidemic. Unbeknownst to them, an outbreak develops around them i...
Sauna
1986
Director
A risqué TV commercial directed by Lars von Trier for Ekstra Bladet. (Danish tabloid paper)
Ennenstadt Europa – The Making of The Element of Crime
1984
as Self - Film Director
Behind the scenes documentary of Lars von Trier's The Element of Crime (1984).
The Element of Crime
1984
as Schmuck of Ages
Fisher, an ex-detective, decides to take one final case when a mysterious serial killer claims the lives of several young girls. Fisher, unable to fin...
The Element of Crime
1984
Director, Screenplay
Fisher, an ex-detective, decides to take one final case when a mysterious serial killer claims the lives of several young girls. Fisher, unable to fin...
Images of Liberation
1982
Writer, Director
Set in Copenhagen during World War II, the film follows a German officer who visits his Danish mistress in the days after the occupation of Denmark ha...
Kaptajn Klyde og hans venner vender tilbage
1980
Close The comedy quartet Klyderne attempts to create "a typical Danish film" through a long series of absurd sketches, parodies, musical interludes, a...
Nocturne
1980
Writer, Director
It's night. Perhaps after a dream of an intruder crashing through a window, a woman who's sensitive to light has a telephone conversation with a frien...
Menthe: The Benefactor
1979
Based on the sadomasochistic novel by Dominique Aury, "Story of O", tells the story of a voluntary female submission.
Menthe: The Benefactor
1979
Writer, Director
Based on the sadomasochistic novel by Dominique Aury, "Story of O", tells the story of a voluntary female submission.
The Orchid Gardener
1977
as Victor Morse
A young, mentally ill man, a visual artist in crisis Victor Marse (Lars von Trier) meets two nurses (Eliza and her girlfriend) during his stay in a sa...
The Orchid Gardener
1977
Writer, Director
A young, mentally ill man, a visual artist in crisis Victor Marse (Lars von Trier) meets two nurses (Eliza and her girlfriend) during his stay in a sa...
A Flower
1971
Director
A boy grows a seed into a flower while the world around him marches on.
Why Try to Escape from That Which You Know You Can't Escape From? Because You Are a Coward
1970
Director, Writer
A man is being haunted by a masked stranger. The only language used in the movie comes from three (inter) title cards and a few sentences of sermon-l...
Goodbye, I'm Kurt
1969
as Børge
A story of 6-year-old Alberte who decides to leave her parents, because they are always busy working or watching TV, and don’t have time to do fun th...
Clandestine Summer
1969
as Lars Johansen
Summer vacation. But Lars remain in town for his parents must work. One day as he bikes around, he hears a scream from a garden.
Good Night, Dear
1968
Lars von Trier himself has one of the lead roles in this short film about a bank employee being subjected to a brutal robbery.
Good Night, Dear
1968
Director, Writer, Director of Photography
Lars von Trier himself has one of the lead roles in this short film about a bank employee being subjected to a brutal robbery.
The Trip to Squash Land
1967
Director
The earliest recognized film by Lars Trier (made in his youth before he adopted the "von") is this stop motion cartoon, Turen til Squach land… En Supe...
The Missing Films
N/A
as Himself
Making film wears down director Lars von Trier, but he is not able to live without them. In the documentary film this Danish auteur’s all-consuming lo...
After
N/A
Director, Writer
Nocebo
N/A
Writer, Director
A series of ten black and white shorts.