Controversial Oscar-nominated Danish director Lars von Trier has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
The 66-year-old’s longtime production company, Zentropa, announced the news in a statement Monday with his blessing to do so, according to Deadline.
“In agreement with Lars von Trier, Zentropa has chosen to publish that Lars has [been] diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” shared Louise Vesth, Trier’s producer at Zentropa, in the statement, reported the new york post.
“This is done to counter any speculation about his health ahead of the premiere of The Kingdom Exodus.
Trier’s third and final installation of his 1990s cult supernatural TV series The Kingdom is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August.
“Lars is in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms, and work to complete The Kingdom Exodus continues as planned,” Veth added.
Trier is not expected to do much press to promote the show due to his diagnosis.
Trier’s other credits include Dancer in the Dark, antichrist, melancholia and the nymphomaniac films.
His career has been deemed controversial, especially when more than 100 viewers walked out — while others gave a standing ovation — during a screening of his 2018 film The House That Jack Built at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Matt Dillon plays a serial killer who, when he isn’t graphically mutilating women, hunts little kids with a rifle. His co-star Uma Thurman conveniently had a scheduling conflict and didn’t show up,” new york post‘s Johnny Oleksinski wrote at the time.
Von Trier also “joked” that he could “sympathise” with Nazi Adolf Hitler during a 2013 Cannes press conference for melancholia, as a horrified Kirsten Dunst looked on. The filmmaker was banned from Cannes for seven years.
Trier also made movies under a Danish movement called the Dogma 95, in which films were made without any artificial lighting, tacked-on music or shooting scenes out of sequence.
The Idiotswhich includes an explicit sex scene, was the first film made following Dogma 95 rules in 1998.
In addition, all Dogma 95 films were made with hand-held cameras and directors were not credited.
This article was originally published on New York Post and was reproduced here with permission
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