Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)HE has been lauded by Nicole Kidman and caused Bjork to promise never to act again.
Now one of Europe´s top directors Lars Von Trier is starting a film company in Spain.
A massive shot in the arm for the Iberian film industry, the Danish film mogul famous for his films Dancer in the Dark and Dogville believes that there is massive potential here.
Said to have a bigger budget than any Spanish production company, his new company Zentropa International Spain starts its first production in Barcelona next year.
Launching this week at the San Sebastian film festival, its Spanish boss David Matamoros, revealed: “It has all happened so quickly and is an extraordinary deal.”
Matamoros, a film producer, refused to reveal exactly how much money was being made available, but said: “It´s quite a bit – more than any Spanish production company.”
The company owned by von Trier alongside studio Nordisk Film has had much critical acclaim for its group of films under the Dogme 95 label.
Its controversial debut The Idiots was nominated for various awards, while Breaking the Waves, starring Emily Watson, in 1996, got worldwide acclaim.
During the shooting of Dancer in the Dark, he got on so badly with its star Bjork, that she ran off in to the woods, ate her costume and vowed never to act again.
The Danish director is currently promoting his latest movie Antichrist, which again has met with much controversy, and even calls for it to be banned in the UK.
