Lars Von Trier Banned From Cannes Film Festival!
In an extraordinary culmination of events at the Cannes film festival, Lars Von Trier has been banned by festival organisers following provocative statements of empathy with the long deceased Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
In an extraordinary culmination of events at the Cannes film festival, Lars Von Trierhas been banned by festival organisers following provocative statements of empathy with the long deceased Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Von Trier, whose new film Melancholia debuted at the festival yesterday to almost unanimous praise, stunned the assembled journalists at the press conference with a rambling allegory concerning his self-perception as either oppressor or oppressed- Jew or Nazi. However, suddenly aware that his metaphorical musings were being received with broad affront, the Dane attempted to extricate himself with a jovial suffix that will doubtless live long in the annals of cinema history: "How can I get out of this sentence?" OK, Im a Nazi.Despite having issued a- probably distributor inspired- clarification of his position later in the day, this was not sufficient to prevent Argentinian distributors DC to withdraw from their contract and issue a condemnatory statement and, just an hour ago, the Cannes festival organisers distributed the following unprecedented press release:
The Festival de Cannes provides artists from around the world with an exceptional forum to present their works and defend freedom of expression and creation. The Festival's Board of Directors, which held an extraordinary meeting this Thursday 19 May 2011, profoundly regrets that this forum has been used by Lars von Trier to express comments that are unacceptable, intolerable, and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the Festival. The board of directors firmly condemns these comments and declares Lars von Trier a persona non grata at the Festival de Cannes, with effect immediately.It is unclear thus far whether this means that Melancholia- doubtless, a likely contender- will no longer be eligible for the Palm Dors, but it seems likely that, for the time being, the provocative genius of Von Trier will no longer be one of the highlights of the annual film festival. Only time will tell whether both will come to realise how much better they are together. Bring the festival experience home this year on Blu-ray Disc keep up to date with all the latest Blu-ray news at the Blu-ray Disc Reporter.