Program Description

On March 13, 1995, Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier was invited to a conference celebrating the 100th anniversary of cinema. To the surprise and bemusement of the film-world elite in attendance, von Trier chose to shower the audience with pamphlets outlining the newly created “Dogme 95” manifesto.

Co-written with fellow filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg, the Dogme 95 manifesto outlined a series of rules dubbed the “Vow of Chastity” that championed traditional values of filmmaking and excluded the use of elaborate special effects or technology. Aimed at returning filmmaking to story, acting and theme, Dogme 95 embraced emerging video technology. Growing into a worldwide movement, Dogme 95 would forever change the way in which narrative feature films are made.

Exploring the lasting effects of this iconoclastic movement, the Museum of Arts and Design presents the cinema series The Director Must Not Be Credited: 20 Years of Dogme 95. Launching on March 13, 2015, twenty years to the date of von Trier’s proclamation, The Director Must Not Be Credited: 20 Years of Dogme 95 screens nine international films that were “officially” recognized by the Dogme 95 committee, ranging from the very first to the very last. Gathered together, these films highlight the wide effects of Dogme 95 on genres and filmmakers spanning across the globe and how the adhering to, and breaking the rules of Dogme 95 altered the language of cinematic storytelling as we know it today.

The Director Must Not Be Credited: 20 Years of Dogme 95 is organized by Jake Yuzna, Director of Public Programs.