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Lars von Trier awarded the largest Danish cultural prize

10.01.2018

Director, scriptwriter, and co-owner of Zentropa, Lars von Trier, is this year’s recipient of the Sonning Prize of one million Danish kroner 

The Sonning Prize is the largest Danish cultural prize of one million kroner. This year, the prize is awarded to film director and scriptwriter Lars von Trier, co-owner of Zentropa, which is also partly owned by the Egmont-owned Nordisk Film.

Lars von Trier is one of the filmmakers of today who has had a persistent and crucial importance for newer European films. With more than twenty sensational and innovative film and television productions, Lars von Trier takes on the role as one of Europe's most important and pioneering film innovators.

"As a film maker, Lars von Trier has managed to interpret different genres in his very own way. In this sense, he is an artist who pushes boundaries and who places himself confidently and self-consciously somewhere completely different than the increasingly commercialized mainstream film. It is the continuing showdown with the conventional that distinguishes Lars von Trier's work and which has helped make European film something special," says chairwoman of the Academy Council Milena Bonifacini about in the nomination of Lars von Trier to the Sonning Prize 2018.

The Sonning Prize is awarded by the University of Copenhagen and is given to a person who has done a creditable work for the benefit of the European culture.

At the moment Lars von Trier is adding the final touches to his next film, “The House that Jack Built”. About the award he states that: “It is with pride and gratitude, that I have been made aware of, that the Sonning Committee has selected me to be the recipient of the prize in 2018.”