Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux said he would welcome back director Lars von Trier to the festival on France’s Europe 1 radio today. The controversial, but not unexpected move, comes on the heels of swirling drama around whether von Trier would be allowed to return. In 2011, the Danish provocateur was barred from the festival and named persona non grata for comments he made about sympathizing with Adolph Hitler and Nazis. His prohibition was supposed to have a lifetime ban.
Additionally, von Trier was accused of sexual harassment by his “Dancer In The Dark” star Bjork last year which was thought to deliver a further blow to his reputation and perhaps any decision that would ultimately welcome back the filmmaker to the festival (his production company Company Zentropa was accused of “systematic degradation and sexual harassment”).
“Pierre Lescure, the president of the Cannes Film Festival, has been working very hard in the last few days for the removal of the persona non grata status which was put in place five years ago, in the belief that it was time to make space for him again as cineaste,” Frémaux said in the interview.
READ MORE: Lars Von Trier’s Latest Film Is The Source Of Much Debate Behind The Scenes At Cannes
According to French site Wask.Fr., though the report has since been removed, organizers were battling whether to include von Trier or not considering the decision would not be the greatest look in light of the most recent allegations. The rumor at Wask suggested that von Trier was offered an out of competition slot, but he refused, which became the more significant dilemma for the organizers who wanted to include him, but not appear to be entirely exculpating him either.
Von Trier’s “The House That Jack Built,” is a serial killer drama starring Matt Dillon and Uma Thurman. According to The Wrap, who further listened in, when asked about that by a French radio host, Fremaux confirmed that Cannes would have a von Trier announcement in the coming days.
Amidst the drama, von Trier, on a Danish program had admitted he had fallen off the wagon during the making of “House That Jack Built” and announced a new 10-short film project meant to make him “happy.”
READ MORE: Lars von Trier’s Next Project Is ‘Études;’ A 10 Short Films Project
On the same radio report, Fremaux said that Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, who competed with “Loveless” at Cannes last year, will serve on the jury this year. The rest of the jury will be lead by Cate Blanchett, but the full lineup has yet to be announced. Here’s the tweet recapping the report that you can translate to English.
Sur @Europe1 ce matin @THIERRYFREMAUX annonce l’ajout du film « The House that Jack Built » avec Uma Thurman et Matt Dillon de @_LarsVonTrier en sélection officielle, Andreï Zviaguintsev membre du jury et un hommage à Marin Karmitz #cannes2018
— Anne (@AnneSeften) April 17, 2018
