The award-winning film FESTEN by Thomas Vinterberg is seen by many as one of the best Danish films in recent times, and was a huge audience success. The film's special dogma style excited both reviewers and cinema goers and struck a blow for the dogma film as a genre.
The film was thus the first of the great Danish dogma films, which came in the wake of a so-called manifesto, Dogme 95,which was published by the four Danish film directors: Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jakobsen. Behind it all was ani dea and a desire to do away with the many superficial and ordinary films that were produced on the assembly line in Hollywood.
The manifesto sets out 10 rules for film production, which a film must live up to in order to be called a dogma film:
1. Filming must take place on a real location and props must not be add edif they are not originally there.
2. Sound and music are not added – they must be present naturally at there cording location.
3. The camera must be hand held.
4. The film must be in color and must only take place in natural light.
5. Optical work and filters must not be used.
6. The film must not contain superficial action.
7. Temporal and geographical alienation is prohibited – the film must take place here and now.
8. Genre films are not accepted
9. The film format must be Academy 35mm.
10. The instructor may not be credited.
Now that you have the 10 rules of dogma at hand, go straight in and watch (or re-watch) Kino Club's selection of films with the talented (dogma) film directors:
- Festen (dogma by Thomas Vinterberg)
- Submarino (drama by Thomas Vinterberg)
- Mifunes Sidste Sang (dogma by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen)
- Det Som Ingen Ved (drama by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen)
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