Lars von Trier turns 59 today and to honor the legendary auteur, Indiewire shared this short documentary about the Dogme 95 movement.
In an effort to take power away from the studios, von Trier founded the movement with Danish director, Thomas Vinterberg, in 1995. The movement “ended” in 2005 and included films from notable filmmakers such as Harmony Korine and Susanne Bier.
The rules of Dogme 95, or Vows of Chastity, are:
- Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in.
- The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it is diegetic.)
- The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.
- The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable.
- Optical work and filters are forbidden.
- The film must not contain superficial action.
- Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden.
- Genre movies are not acceptable.
- The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
- The director must not be credited.