Game Changers Special | Dogma ’95 (Festen)

Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen is the first film made according to the Dogma 95 principles, a filmmaking movement founded by Vinterberg himself together with fellow director Lars von Trier. This minimalist style, using handheld cameras and natural lighting, intensifies the raw emotions in this story about family secrets and betrayal.

ABOUT DOGMA '95
In 1995, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg shook the film world with their radical Dogma 95 manifesto. Their goal: a return to the essence of cinema, without artificial effects, music, or tricks. Three years later came Festen – the first film made entirely according to the Dogma rules. Together with von Trier’s The Idiots, the film was presented at Cannes in 1998, where Festen won the Jury Prize and marked Vinterberg’s international breakthrough. Now, 30 years later, we once again turn our attention to this Danish avant-garde film movement, as Twan Arts guides you through the rules of Dogma ’95. As a fitting example, we’ll watch Festen after the masterclass, and in the coming weeks, other Dogma titles will also be shown at Natlab.

GAME CHANGERS
On this evening, an iconic film classic will be screened. Prior to the screening, film lecturer Twan Arts will give a masterclass explaining what makes the selected film a true game changer in the history of cinema.