Lars von Trier in Cannes with Filmstiftung-backed „The House That Jack Built“

• Co-production of Cologne’s Zentropa screening in the Official Selection – Out of Competition
• With Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz and Uma Thurman
• Festival de Cannes from 8 – 19 May, 2018

As the Festival de Cannes reported today,  Lars von Trier has been invited to show his psychological drama „The House That Jack Built“ in the Official Selection – Out of Competition. The Cologne-based Zentropa is a German partner on the international co-production.

„Congratulations to Lars von Trier and Zentropa on their invitation to the festival – and of course to Bettina Brokemper of Zentropa Köln, who has co-produced several of his films“, says Petra Müller, CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. „Von Trier is one of the great contemporary directors. His films goes to the limit, they make demands on the audience and simultaneously touch them in a special way. We are really looking forward to the premiere of his new work on the Croisette.“

„The House That Jack Built” with Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz and Uma Thurman was shot in Denmark and Sweden. Zentropa Entertainment 31 (DK) produced the film with Zentropa Sweden (S), Zentropa Köln and Zentropa France/Slot Machine (F). World sales are being handled by TrustNordisk (DK), and Concorde will release the film in German cinemas. The Filmstiftung backed the production with around 340,000 Euros, with additional support coming from Eurimages, among others.

Von Trier’s new work is told from the perspective of the highly intellient serial killer Jack. Jack sees each of his murders as a work of art and is in regular contact with the mysterious Verge to talk about his deeds and thoughts. As the police get ever nearer to the killer with the passage of time, Jack takes greater and greater risks to create the ultimate work of art.

The Filmstiftung has a long-standing collaboration with Lars von Trier now spanning a total of seven extraordinary works. The productions supported to date are „Nymphomaniac I&II”, „Melancholia“, „Antichrist”, „Manderlay“, „Dogville“ as well as „Dancer in the Dark“. Lars von Trier’s films have received awards in Cannes on several occasions, including the Golden Palm in 2000 for „Dancer in the Dark”; in 2011, Kirsten Dunst received the prize for Best Lead Actress for „Melancholia“.

Last week had seen the announcement of the first films selected for the festival. Ulrich Köhlers Filmstiftung-backed film „In My Room“ will be screening in the Un Certain Regard sidebar. The Cologne-based Pandora Film Produktion produced the film in co-production with Echo Film (IT), Komplizen Film and in association with the broadcasters WDR and ARTE.

The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW in Cannes
This year will again see the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW having a presence in the German Pavilion, at the umbrella stand of Focus Germany, the amalgamation of the eight largest German regional film funds and German Films, in the International Village of the Festival de Cannes. The German Pavilion is the meeting place and port of call for the accredited visitors from the German and international film industries attending the festival in Cannes.