Danish film has never felt stronger on the international stage than it did with the Dogme films, which at the world premiere of 'The Party' and 'The Idiots' during the Cannes Film Festival in 1998 put Denmark on the film world map. Another eight films under the strict Dogme rules followed and created great international careers for several of the talents in front of and behind the handheld camera. Thomas Vinterberg, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, Paprika Steen, Ulrich Thomsen, Trine Dyrholm, Iben Hjejle, Anders W. Berthelsen, Lone Scherfig, Sonja Richter and many more of the country's greatest filmmakers look back on when Denmark became Dogme.
Søren Kragh-Jacobsen (born 2 March 1947 in Copenhagen) is a Danish film director, musician, and song writer. He was one of the founders and practitioners of the Dogme95 project, for creating films without artificial technology or techniques. Kragh-Jacobsen started out as a popular musician in Denmark, before attending film school in Prague. After returning to Denmark, he directed and co-wrote television productions. He became one of the developers of the avant-garde film-making project Dogme95, based on creating films based only on reality, without artificial lighting and technology. His first feature film was Wanna See My Beautiful Navel? (1978). This was followed by the successful Rubber Tarzan (1981), Thunderbirds (1983), Emma's Shadow (1988), Shower of Gold (1988), The Boys from St. Petri (1991), The Island on Bird Street (1997), and his international break-through, dogme No. 3 Mifune's Last Song (1999), and Skagerrak (2003). Mifune's Last Song won the Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. Skagerrak was entered into the 25th Moscow International Film Festival. He has done some commercials and Danish/Swedish TV series. Acclaimed internationally, he has received several major awards for his work, including the Memorial François Truffaut Award/Giffoni, an Emmy for The Island on Bird Street and a Silver Bear at the Berlinale film festival in Berlin for Mifune's Last Song. The Boys from St. Petri was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.