| Dogme 95 | |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1995–2005 |
| Location | Denmark |
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| Influences | |
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Dogme 95 (Danish:[ˈtʌwmə]; Danish for "Dogma 95") was a Danishavant-garde filmmaking movement founded byLars von Trier andThomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity" (Danish:kyskhedsløfter). These were rules to create films based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, while excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. It was supposedly created as an attempt to "take back power for the directors as artists" as opposed to the movie studio.[1]
Von Trier and Vinterberg were later joined byKristian Levring andSøren Kragh-Jacobsen, forming a group known as the Dogme 95 Collective or the Dogme Brethren. French-American filmmakerJean-Marc Barr and American filmmakerHarmony Korine are also seen as major figures in the movement.Breaking the Waves (1996), von Trier's first film under his own production companyZentropa, became the precursor of the movement.[2]
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Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg wrote and co-signed the manifesto and its companion "vows". Vinterberg said that they wrote the pieces in 45 minutes.[3] The manifesto initially mimics the wording ofFrançois Truffaut's 1954 essay "Une certaine tendance du cinéma français" inCahiers du cinéma.
They announced the Dogme movement on March 13, 1995, inParis, atLe cinéma vers son deuxième siècle conference. The cinema world had gathered to celebrate the first century of motion pictures and contemplate the uncertain future of commercial cinema. Called upon to speak about the future of film, Lars von Trier showered a bemused audience with red pamphlets announcing "Dogme 95".[citation needed]
In response to criticism, von Trier and Vinterberg have both stated that they just wanted to establish a new extreme: "In a business of extremely high budgets, we figured we should balance the dynamic as much as possible."[4]
In 1996, the movement tookBreaking the Waves as the main inspiration by ethos, although the film breaks many of the movement's "rules", including built sets, post-dubbed music, violence, and computer graphics in the end of the film.[5][2]
Like theNo Wave Cinema creative movement, Dogme 95 has been described as a defining period inlow-budget film production.[6][better source needed]
Since 2002 and the 31st film, Spanish director Juan Pinzás no longer needs to have his work verified by the original board to identify it as a Dogme 95 work after finishing up his own trilogy. The founding "brothers" have begun working on new experimental projects and have been skeptical about the later common interpretation of the Manifesto as a brand or a genre. The movement broke up in 2005.[7]
The goal of the Dogme collective is to "purify" filmmaking by refusing expensive and spectacular special effects, post-production modifications and other technicalgimmicks. The filmmakers concentrate on the story and the actors' performances. They claim this approach may better engage the audience, as they are not "alienated or distracted by overproduction". To this end, von Trier and Vinterberg produced ten rules to which any Dogme film must conform. These rules, referred to as the "Vow of Chastity", are as follows:[1]
″Furthermore I swear as a director to refrain from personal taste! I am no longer an artist. I swear to refrain from creating a “work”, as I regard the instant as more important than the whole. My supreme goal is to force the truth out of my characters and settings. I swear to do so by all the means available and at the cost of any good taste and any aesthetic considerations.Thus I make my VOW OF CHASTITY.″[8]
In total, 35 films made between 1998 and 2005 are considered to be part of the movement.
WhileInterview (2000) does not explicitly mention that it is registered as Dogme #7, the number had originally referred to a scheduled German film titledBroken Cookies, directed by another one of von Trier's frequent collaborators,Udo Kier. The film was never produced, andInterview was registered instead.[11]
The end credits ofHet Zuiden (South) (2004), directed byMartin Koolhoven, included thanks to "Dogme 95". Koolhoven originally planned to shoot it as a Dogme film, and it was co-produced by von Trier'sZentropa. Finally, the director decided he did not want to be so severely constrained as by Dogme principles.[citation needed]
The above rules have been both circumvented and broken from numerous films submitted as a Dogme, particularly a director's credit and background music appearing inInterview andFuckland as for examples. Some examples include:
Breaking the Waves, von Trier's first film after founding the Dogme 95 movement, was heavily influenced by the Dogme 95 style and ethos, even though it breaks many of the "rules" (including a directorial credit, background sets, non-diegetic music, and use ofCGI).[5]
The 2001 experimental filmHotel, directed byMike Figgis, makes several mentions of the Dogme 95 style of filmmaking, and has been described as a "Dogme film-within-a-film".[14][15]
Keyboard player and music producerMoney Mark used principles inspired by Dogme 95 to record hisMark's Keyboard Repair album.[16]
The Dogme 95 influenced Russian-born violinist Mikhail Gurewitsch to name his dogma chamber orchestra which he founded in 2004 in Germany.
A complete list of the 35 films is available from the Dogme95 web site.[17] Juan Pinzás (#22, #30, and #31) is the only filmmaker to have submitted more than once.
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Most of the Dogme films received mixed or negative reviews. However, some were critically acclaimed; these include Vinterberg's filmFesten (The Celebration), Scherfig's filmItaliensk for begyndere (Italian for Beginners), and Bier's filmElsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts).[citation needed] Films such as Von Trier's filmIdioterne (The Idiots) and Jacobsen's filmMifunes sidste sang (Mifune's Last Song), also received lukewarm reviews.[citation needed]
Festen won numerous awards including theJury Prize at theCannes Film Festival and won seven atRobert Awards in 1998.[18]Italiensk for begyndere also won theSilver Bear Grand Jury Prize at theBerlin Film Festival in 2000.[citation needed]
In 2015, theMuseum of Arts and Design celebrated the movement with the retrospectiveThe Director Must Not Be Credited: 20 Years of Dogme 95. The retrospective included work byLars von Trier,Thomas Vinterberg,Jean-Marc Barr,Susanne Bier,Daniel H. Byun,Harmony Korine,Kristian Levring,Annette K. Olesen, andLone Scherfig.[19][20]
Although the movement was dissolved in 2005, the filmmakers continued to develop independent and experimental films using or influenced the concept includingJan Dunn'sGypo andBrillante Mendoza's filmsSerbis,Tirador, andMa' Rosa.[21]
The use of 'Dogme 95' style filming is in a list of a hostage taker's demands in theBlack Mirror episode, "The National Anthem".[22]
James Cairney, the director of filmography forArmando Iannucci's political satireThe Thick of It—the predecessor to theHBO comedyVeep—has stated that he was instructed to try and adhere to theDogme 95 principles as much as possible, including the use of handheld cameras and natural light.[23]
After the release of Byun's filmInterview (2000), some South Korean films who considered as an influence to Dogme 95 films, but rejected that serves as an actual Dogme; this includesThis Charming Girl (2004) byLee Yoon-Ki,Secret Sunshine (2007) byLee Chang-dong, andThe Housemaid (2010) byIm Sang-soo.[citation needed]
Much of Von Trier's works were influenced by the manifesto. His first film after founding the movement wasBreaking the Waves, which was heavily influenced by the movement's style and ethos, although the film broke many of the "rules" laid out by the movement's manifesto, including built sets, and usage of non-diegetic musics and computer graphics. Most of his films that followed these principles can be traced from the 1998 filmIdioterne untilRiget: Exodus.[24][25]
Vinterberg's 2012 film,Jagten, was also influenced by the manifesto.[25]
Money Mark has stated that the albumMark's Keyboard Repair was an "experimental concept based loosely on" the Dogme 95 idea.[26]
Academy Award-nomineeDaughter (2019) was inspired by its aesthetic.
On January 1. 2020,[27] Michigan based filmmaker Merek Alam[28] released "A future film manifesto"[27] short publicly to YouTube titled,DOGMA 2025 as a response to conventions within the original tenants of Dogme 95, which narratively served as an attempt to both update the original ideology for modern audiences, critique the concept of manifesto itself, and predict future cinematic trends.
In the short, Alam plays three central characters, each framed as thematic variations on mechanisms of delivery for the principles of the DOGMA 2025 axioms, with each character meeting a violent or untimely fate in the climax of the film via off-screen or checker-boarded entities which are not formally acknowledged.
On January 1. 2025,[29] Merek publicly released a webpage for DOGMA 2025 announcing that "Per the manifesto of DOGMA 2025...after 5 years...[sic]...Any work created under its ethos will be entered into the public domain for reclaimation [sic]. The original film was uploaded on January 1st, 2020 -- a harbinger of the epoch-eclipse -- and a timer that will soon run out.",[30] though copyright law in the United States where the filmmaker is based does not operate through declarative announcements in this fashion, and would require additional applications for external options such asCreative Commons licensing in order to operate similarly.
This webpage and announcement was pre-announced via anARG / interactive fiction puzzle on the Bright Afternoon Productions website several days before, and it ends with an ominous warning, of "See you in 2030. With my deepest existential dread, MA".[30]
At the2025 Cannes Film Festival five Danish filmmakers -May el-Toukhy,Milad Alami,Isabella Eklöf,Annika Berg andJesper Just - announced the creation of Dogma 25, a new filmmaking manifesto inspired by Dogme 95. Vinterberg and von Trier gave the filmmakers their blessing with the new manifesto, stating: "In '95, we made films in the certainty of peace and created a revolt against conformity. In '25, new dogmas were created, now in a world of war and uncertainty. We wish you the best of luck on your march toward reconquering Danish film."[31]
The Dogma 25 rules read:
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