Jørgen Leth (; born 14 June 1937) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

poet and film director who is considered a leading figure in experimental documentary film making. Most notable are his documentary ''

A Sunday in Hell ''A Sunday in Hell'' (original title: ''En Forårsdag i Helvede'') is a 1976 Danish documentary film directed by Jørgen Leth. The film is a chronology of the 1976 Paris–Roubaix bicycle race from the perspective of participants, organizers and s ...

'' (1977) and his surrealistic short film ''

The Perfect Human ''The Perfect Human'' ( da, Det perfekte menneske) is a cult short film in black and white by Jørgen Leth lasting 13 minutes about a middle class Danish couple performing everyday rituals. The film examines human behavior in a suave, pseudo-scien ...

'' (1968). He is also a sports commentator for Danish television and is represented by the film production company Sunset Productions.

Early life

Born on 14 June 1937 in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, Denmark, Leth studied literature and anthropology in Aarhus and Copenhagen and was a cultural critic (jazz, theatre, film) for leading Danish newspapers from 1959 to 1968. His interest in Polish anthropologist

Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish-British anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropol ...

had a profound influence on his work. He traveled in Africa (1961), South America and India (1966) and Southeast Asia (1970–71). His first book was published in 1962. He has written 10 volumes of poetry and eight non-fiction books.

Film career

Leth made his first film in 1963 and has since made 40 more, many distributed worldwide. His most acclaimed is a 1968 short, ''

'', which also featured in the 2003 film ''

The Five Obstructions ''The Five Obstructions'' is a 2003 Danish documentary film directed by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth. The film is conceived as a documentary, but incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films produced by the filmmakers. The premise is th ...

'' made by Leth and Lars von Trier. Leth's sports documentaries bring an epic, almost mythic, dimension to the field, as seen in ''Stars and Watercarriers'' (''Stjernerne og Vandbærerne'') (1973) and ''

'' (''En forårsdag i helvede'') (1977). He has been a creative consultant for the Danish Film Institute (1971–73, 1975–77) as well as chairman of the institute's board (1977–82). He has also been a professor at the Danish National Film School in Copenhagen, at the State Studiocenter in Oslo and has lectured at UCLA,

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and other American universities. Leth covered the Tour de France for Denmark's TV 2 from 1988 until 2005 as the expert commentator in partnership with journalist Jørn Mader, and again from 2009 in partnership with Dennis Ritter and

Rolf Sørensen Rolf Sørensen (born 20 April 1965) is a former Danish professional road bicycle racer. He is currently working as a cycling commentator and agent. Born in Helsinge in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy at the age of 17, where he has lived since ...

. In 1999, he was appointed Danish honorary consul in Haiti.

Controversy

He attracted controversy in Denmark after publication of his autobiography ''Det uperfekte menneske'' (''The Imperfect Human''). It included a graphic account of sexual relations with the 17-year-old daughter of his cook in Haiti. This created a media storm in Denmark, partly because of his plan to make a film called ''Det Erotiske Menneske'' ("The Erotic Human"), funded by the Danish Film Institute, in collaboration with DR ( Danmarks Radio) and Nordisk Film and TV Commission. The controversy upset several groups in Denmark. In October 2005, due to the controversy, he was dismissed as commentator with TV2. Leth then considered to quit finishing his film ''Erotic Man'', but close friend and fellow filmmaker Lars von Trier met with Leth and promised to let himself credit as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

on the film, in order to support Leth's artistic work. ''Erotic Man'' premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010. The film received lacklustre reviews which deemed it "dirty-old-man cinema" and

colonialist Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

exploitation.

Personal life

Leth has been married three times and has four children: Asger (film director), Karoline, Kristian and Tomas. Leth moved to Haiti in the late 1980s and referred to it as his second home. He lived in Jacmel from 1991 until 2010, when the Haiti earthquake destroyed his rented home and most of his possessions. In 2013, Leth was still living in Haiti for about six months of the year, but with friends on the northern coast.

Honors

Retrospectives of Leth's work have been held at the National Film Theatre in London (1989), in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, France (1990), at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

in Washington D.C. (1992), in Mumbai, India (1996), New York (2002), Sao Paulo (2003), Toronto (2004), Florence (2005), Rome (2006), Sao Paulo (2008), Warsaw (2008) and Tehran (2008) and at the

Athens International Film Festival Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

in Athens (2009). He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including: *1971 Oberhausen Hauptpreis *1972 Thomas Mann Award *1983 Danish Academy Special Prize *1992 Paul Hammerich Award *1995 Drachmann Award for literary oeuvre *1996 Danish Film Academy Robert Award *1997 Prix de France for cultural reporting from France *1999 Danish State Art Foundation Special Award *2000 Danish Film Academy Robert Award *2004 Grand Prix for Best Feature at Odense International Film Festival *2009 Honorary Bodil award for lifetime achievement *2022 Member of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres of France *Lifelong grant from the Danish state for achievements in filmmaking

Selected bibliography

Two biographies of Leth have been published in Denmark. * Gult lys (''Yellow Light'') (1962) – poems * Kanal (''Channel'') (1964) – poems * Lykken i Ingenmandsland (''Happiness in No-man's Land'') (1967) – poems * Sportsdigte (''Sports Poems'') (1967) – poems * Glatte hårdtpumpede puder (''Smooth, Inflated Cushions'') (1969) – poems * Eventyret om den sædvanlige udsigt (''The Adventure of the Usual View'') (1971) – radio play * Eddy Merckx i nærheden af en kop kaffe ('' Eddy Merckx in the Vicinity of a Cup of Coffee'') (1973) * Det går forbi mig (''It Passes Me'') (1975) – poems * Det skete ved Ballerup (''It happened near Ballerup'') (1975) – short story * Det er ligesom noget i en drøm. Udvalgte historier om cykelsport 1970–75 (''It's like Something in a Dream: Selected Stories about bicycle sport 1970–75'') (1976) * Filmmaskinen. Udvalgte historier om film 1965–78 (''The Film Machine. Selected Stories about Films 1965–78'') (1979) * Jeg leger at jeg kan alting. En børnebog (''I play that I can do everything. A Children's Book'') (1991) * Hundene gør. Kup i Haiti 1991–94 (''The Dogs Bark. Coup in Haiti 1991–94'') (1994) – documentary * Den gule trøje i de høje bjerge (''The Yellow Jersey in the High Mountains'') 1995 – collection of writings about cycling * Billeder fra Haiti. Jørgen Leth's collection (''Pictures from Haiti – Jørgen Leth's Collection'') – catalogue of art * Billedet forestiller (''The Picture Shows'') (2000) – poems * Historier fra Haiti (''Stories from Haiti'') (2000) * Samlede digte (''Collected Poems'') (2002) * Det uperfekte menneske. Scener fra mit liv (''The Imperfect Man. Scenes from My Life'') (2005) – memoires * Det gør ikke noget (''It Doesn't Matter'') (2006) – poems * Guldet på havets bund. Det uperfekte menneske/2 (''The Gold at the Bottom of the Sea. The Imperfect Human/2'') (2007) * One Day Duke Jordan Disappeared in Harlem (2008) – articles about jazz 1954–66 * The Gifts of Chance (2009) – essays about filmmaking * Haiti (2010) – documentary * Trivial Everyday Things: Selected Poems of Jørgen Leth (BookThug, 2011) – translations into English by Martin Aitken

Filmography

* ''Stopforbud'', 1963 * ''Look Forward to a Bright Future'', 1965 * ''

'', 1968 * ''Near Heaven, Near Earth'', 1968 * ''Ophelia's Flowers'', 1969 * ''Motion Picture'', 1970 * ''The Search'', 1970 * ''The Deergarden'', the Romantic Forest, 1970 * ''Chinese Table-tennis'', 1970 * ''Life in Denmark'', 1971 * ''Stars and Watercarriers'', 1973 * ''Klaus Rifbjerg'', 1974 * ''Good and Evil'', 1974 * ''

'', 1977 * ''Peter Martins – A Dancer'', 1978 * ''Kalule'', 1979 * ''Dancing Bournonville'', 1979 * ''

66 Scenes from America ''66 Scenes from America'' ( da, 66 scener fra Amerika) is a 1982 Danish documentary film directed by Jørgen Leth. It presents a variety of short scenes with no connecting narrative. People are shown engaged in ordinary activities with minimal di ...

'', 1982 * ''Step on Silence'', 1981 * ''Pelota'', 1983 * ''Haiti Express'', 1983 * ''Moments of Play'', 1986 * ''Notebook from China'', 1986 * ''Notes on Love'', 1989 * ''Danish Literature'', 1989 * ''Traberg'', 1992 * ''Michael Laudrup – A Football Player'', 1993 * ''Haiti, Untitled'', 1996 * ''I'm Alive – Soren Ulrik Thomsen, Poet'', 1999 * ''Dreamers'', 2002 * ''New Scenes from America'', 2002 * ''

'' (with Lars von Trier), 2003 * ''Aarhus'' (2005) * ''Erotic Man'' (2010) * ''I Am Talking To You'' (2013) * ''Pelota II'' (with Olatz Gonzalez Abrisketa), 2015

Discography

*'' Han er nu malet blå'', 2004. *''Vi sidder bare her - Vi sidder bare her...'', 2008 *''Vi sidder bare her - Ikke Euforisk'', 2010 *''Ingen Regning Til Mig'', 2014

References

External links

Official blog
*

The Perfect Human
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leth, Jorgen 1937 births Danish emigrants to Haiti Danish experimental filmmakers Danish documentary filmmakers 20th-century Danish poets Danish male poets Danish male screenwriters Danish documentary film directors English-language film directors French-language film directors Living people People from Aarhus People from Jacmel Spanish-language film directors Sports commentators 21st-century Danish poets 20th-century Danish male writers 21st-century Danish male writers Bodil Honorary Award recipients