Zentropa, or Zentropa Entertainments, is a Danish film company started in 1992 by director

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

and producer

Peter Aalbæk Jensen Peter Aalbæk Jensen (born 8 April 1956 in Osted) is a Denmark, Danish film producer who in 1992 with director Lars von Trier founded the Danish film company Zentropa and later its huge studio complex Filmbyen. His father was writer Erik Aalbæk J ...

. Zentropa is named after the train company Zentropa in the film ''

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliffs, Alexan ...

'' (1991), which started the collaboration between von Trier and Jensen.

History

It has produced over 70 feature films and has become the largest film production company in Scandinavia. It owns a number of subsidiary companies in Europe. Zentropa is also responsible for creating a large studio complex called ''

Filmbyen Filmbyen (English: Film City) is a film studio complex located in Hvidovre just outside Copenhagen, Denmark. Filmbyen is a former military base. It houses many film-related companies. Many films and TV-series have been shot there. It was founded ...

'' (Film City), where both Zentropa and many other film-related companies are located. Zentropa may be best known for creating the

Dogme 95 Dogme 95 (; Danish for "Dogma 95") was a Danish avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity" (). These were rules to create films based on the t ...

movement, leading to such acclaimed films as ''

Idioterne ''The Idiots'' () is a 1998 black comedy drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2. It is the second film in von Trier's ''Golden Heart ...

'' (1998), ''

Festen ''The Celebration'' () is a 1998 Danish black comedy-drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and produced by Nimbus Film. It tells the story of a family gathering to celebrate their patriarch's 60th birthday, during which a family secret is ...

'' (1998) and '' Mifunes sidste sang'' (1999). In 1998, von Trier made history by having his company Zentropa to be the world's first mainstream film company to produce

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...

s, under the division

Puzzy Power Puzzy Power (also known as HotMale) is a Danish film company started in 1997 as a subsidiary to Lars von Trier's company Zentropa, with the goal of producing hardcore pornographic films for women. It is the only time ever a mainstream film compan ...

. Three of these films, ''

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

'' (1998), ''

Pink Prison ''Pink Prison'' is a 1999 erotic film for women, directed by Danish director Lisbeth Lynghøft, and produced by Puzzy Power, a division of Lars von Trier's film company Zentropa. As the follow-up to ''Constance (1998 film), Constance'' (1998), it ...

'' (1999), and the adult/mainstream crossover-feature ''

All About Anna ''All About Anna'' is a 2005 Danish erotic film directed by Jessica Nilsson and starring Gry Bay and Mark Stevens. The film is explicit in its exploration of sexual relationships. It is a co-production between Innocent Pictures and Lars von ...

'' (2005), were made primarily for a female audience and were extremely successful in Europe, with the first two being directly responsible for the legalising of pornography in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in March 2006.Zentropa's initiative spearheaded a European wave of female-friendly porn films from directors such as

Anna Span Anna Arrowsmith (born Anna Imogen Thompson 15 January 1972), who works under the pseudonym Anna Span, is a former English pornographic film director and producer. She makes frequent public appearances, speaking on sex, pornography and feminism. ...

Erika Lust Erika Lust (born 1977) is a Swedish feminist pornographic film director, screenwriter and producer. Since the debut of her first indie erotic film '' The Good Girl'' in 2004, Lust has been cited as one of the current leading participants in the ...

and

Petra Joy Petra Joy (born 1964) is a German feminist film director, film producer, TV producer, distributor, author, and photographer. She lives in Brighton, England. Along with Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Maria Beatty, and others, she is one ...

, while von Trier's company Zentropa was forced to abandon the experiment due to pressure from its English business partners. In July 2009, women's magazine ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' ranked ''Pink Prison'' as No. 1 in its Top Five of the best women's porn, calling it the "role model for the new porn-generation".

Sexual harassment allegations

In November 2017, in the wake of the

Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...

, nine women – all former employees at Zentropa – spoke of an "ingrained" culture of abuse at the studio. Several of those interviewed said that their treatment had prompted them to stop working in the film industry altogether. Jensen, the company's co-founder, was specifically accused of sexual misconduct and sidelined from operations. An internal memo stated that he would no longer exercise "influence on the daily leadership of the company ndwill not partake in any management meetings." According to von Trier, Jensen stepped down and passed to Anders Kjaerhauge as CEO of Zentropa when the former's further allegations of harassment came to light.

Selected productions

Subsidiaries

EF Rental EF or ef may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ef (band), a post-rock band from Sweden * '' Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two.'', a Japanese adult visual novel series by Minori, or its anime adaptations Businesses and organizations * Eagle Forum, a ...

Electric Parc Electric Parc is a Danish film company that produces DVDs, behind-the-scenes-featurettes, and websites. It is located in Filmbyen and is closely related with Zentropa. Electric Parc's DVD box-set of Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trie ...

* Trust Film Sales * Zentropa Real * Zentropa Interaction * Zentropa Rekorder * Zentropa Klippegangen *

Zentropa International Köln GmbH Zentropa, or Zentropa Entertainments, is a Danish film company started in 1992 by director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen. Zentropa is named after the train company Zentropa in the film ''Europa'' (1991), which started the col ...

Zentropa International Poland Zentropa, or Zentropa Entertainments, is a Danish film company started in 1992 by director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen. Zentropa is named after the train company Zentropa in the film '' Europa'' (1991), which started the co ...

* Zentropa International Sweden

Awards

Zentropa won many awards and nominations from local ceremonies including

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and Bodil, as well as two

Academy Award for Best International Feature Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

for ''

In a Better World ''In a Better World'' (, "The Revenge") is a 2010 drama thriller film written by Anders Thomas Jensen and directed by Susanne Bier. The film stars Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, and Ulrich Thomsen in a story which takes place in small-town ...

'' and ''Another Round'', both were directed by critically acclaimed

-competitors

Susanne Bier Susanne Bier (; born 15 April 1960) is a Danish filmmaker. Bier is the first female director to collectively receive an Academy Award (Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Foreign Film), a Golden Globe Award, a European Film Award ...

and

Thomas Vinterberg Thomas Vinterberg (; born 19 May 1969) is a Danish film director who, along with Lars von Trier, co-founded the Dogme 95 movement in filmmaking, which established rules for simplifying movie production. He is best known for the films '' The Cele ...

References

External links

* * {{DNFc, 107463
Filmbyen official site

Zentropa at IMDb

Film production companies of Denmark Mass media companies based in Copenhagen Companies based in Hvidovre Municipality Danish companies established in 1992 Danish film studios Danish brands Film distributors Lars von Trier