Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective an avantgarde filmmaking movement although his own films have taken a variety of approaches. Known as a provocateur, his work has frequently divided critical opinion. Nevertheless, Lars von Trier is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished living directors in world cinema.

Lars Trier was born in Kongens Lyngby, north of Copenhagen, the son of Inger Trier . He had believed that his biological father was Ulf Trier , until his mother revealed to him on her deathbed that he had been conceived as a result of an affair she had with her employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann. His mother considered herself a Communist, while his father was a Social Democrat, and both were committed nudists, and the young Lars went on several childhood holidays to nudist camps. His parents regarded the disciplining of children as reactionary. Trier has noted that he was brought up in an atheist family, and that although Ulf Trier was Jewish, he was not religious. His parents did not allow much room in their household for feelings, religion, or enjoyment, and also refused to make any rules for their children, with complex effects upon Triers personality and development. He began making his own films at the age of eleven after receiving a Super8 camera as a gift, and he continued his ind

Source: Wikipedia