Lars von Trier (born April 30, 1956 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish film director closely associated with the Dogme95 collective calling for a return to plausible stories in filmmaking and a move away from artifice and towards technical minimalism.
Von Trier also directed The Kingdom (Riget) and The Kingdom 2, a pair of miniseries for Danish television about a haunted hospital. A projected third installment in the series seems to have been derailed due to the death of one of its major stars. An American television remake has been undertaken by none other than Stephen King, titled Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital, for tentative broadcast in 2004.
Von Trier added the "von" to his name when his peers at film school nicknamed him "von Trier". He also reportedly added the "von" in homage to Erich von Stroheim.
He has described himself in Interview magazine (June 1989) as "a melancholy Dane masturbating in the dark to images on the silver screen."
He has never been to the United States as he refuses to fly.
Filmography: