FEATURE
The Hunt
A celebration of Zentropa Z
After 20 years, the iconic Danish production outfit Zentropa is going stronger than ever, with historical drama A Royal Affair packing out Danish cinemas and Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt in Competition here in Cannes. Geoffrey Macnab reports
entropa, the Danish company that Lars von Trier and Peter Aalbaek Jensen co-founded in 1992, has reached the ripe old age of 20.
The way Aalbaek Jensen describes it, what is
now one of Europe’s leading production outfits was launched in less-than-glorious circumstances. “I was bankrupt with my first production com-
pany. I had made the biggest flop in Danish history. I was totally broke and in deep shit,” Aalbaek Jensen recalls cheerfully. “Lars was also in deep shit because he was so obnoxious and such a mean guy that nobody wanted to work with him in Den- mark.” The producer’s friends warned him against
going into business with von Trier, but he blithely ignored them. “Everybody thought it was crazy to form a company on a 50/50 basis with an artist — especially an artist who is declared insane.” Neither partner had any money. The pair had
already teamed up to make 1991’s Europa, a highly elaborate European co-production, with some sup- port from Scandinavian major Nordisk. To their evident surprise, it proved a success. Von Trier had offers from elsewhere but decided to stay with Aal- baek Jensen. “He is a kind of medieval knight. He thought that as I had helped him when he was fucked, he didn’t want to leave me. That was prob-
n 42 Screen International at Cannes May 16, 2012
‘Everybody thought it was crazy to form a company on a 50/50 basis with an artist who is declared
insane’ Peter Aalbaek Jensen, Zentropa
ably very stupid of him because he could have been sitting in a castle in France right now if he’d bolted out of the country.” When Zentropa was formed — it was named
from the railway network featured in Europa — both partners agreed they would each receive $9,300 (¤7,000) a month in salary. “We still get that. Neither of us wants the other guy to get paid better.” They made commercials in order to get the company up and running. Twenty years on, Zentropa’s tentacles stretch all
over Europe. It has offices everywhere from Scot- land to Poland. “Becoming international was never any plan, never any strategy, but trying to make films out of Denmark is more or less impossible. We are 5 million people. No matter how successful you are, there is a limit to what you can make out of the local market. Especially with Lars’ product, that was impossible to get money for in Denmark. We were forced to go out into the international market. I couldn’t speak English at that time and nobody in Denmark knew how to put together a contract… we had to learn everything from scratch.” Zentropa has had a European profile from the
outset. Europa was one of the first films ever sup- ported by Eurimages, the Council of Europe Fund
»
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76