Sean Baker presents: The Idiots (Dogme #2)

directed by Lars von Trier

1998, 117m, Denmark, DCP

25th anniversary 4K restoration!

Introduced by filmmaker Sean Baker (Red Rocket)

Long unavailable legally in the U.S., we are thrilled to present the L.A. theatrical premiere of the long-awaited, uncensored restoration of Lars von Trier’s controversial black comedy. Between the late 90s and early 2000s, von Trier was the reigning enfant terrible of European art cinema, whose bold psychodramas and mordantly funny experiments remain as innovative as they are confrontational. The Idiots is perhaps the most provocative of them all: a woman (Bodil Jørgensen) dining alone at a crowded restaurant is disrupted by a flash mob who pretend to be developmentally-disabled, as an attempt to challenge bourgeois society by behaving like “idiots” in public. Joining their commune, she begins a life of creative anarchy, which von Trier observes with extraordinary and discomfiting intimacy. Shot entirely with consumer-grade handheld DV cameras, with natural light and direct sound, it remains the only film Von Trier directed that closely adheres to the Dogme 95 manifesto, which infamously established particular rules for a more hyper-realistic filmmaking aesthetic while eschewing others. Please note: this film contains unsimulated sexual content.

In Danish with English Subtitles. Special thanks to C. Mason Wells (MUBI) and Alec Moeller.

Official Selection: Cannes Film Festival (Competition), New York Film Festival, 1998

“One of the best films of the 90s” -Sean Baker & Joachim Trier