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Von Trier declared person non grata in Cannes after Hitler remarks

May 19, 2011, 14:26 GMT

05/18/2011 - Lars Von Trier - 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival - "Melancholia" Photocall - Palais des Festivals - Cannes, France © Pixplanete / PR Photos

Cannes, France - The Cannes Film Festival took the unprecedented step of declaring Danish director Lars von Trier persona non grata on Thursday in response to his pro-Hitler and anti-Israel comments.

The festival's board said it 'firmly condemns these comments and declares Lars von Trier a persona non grata at the festival.'

In a series of rambling remarks, the 55-year-old von Trier told a press conference on Wednesday: 'I understand Hitler, but I think he did some wrong things. But I can see him sitting in his bunker in the end.

'He's not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him, and I sympathize with him a little bit. But come on, I'm not for the Second World War, and I'm not against Jews.'

He went on to say: 'OK I'm a Nazi.'

Von Trier subsequently apologized for the remarks, which appeared to have been made in jest.

Von Trier said if he had 'hurt someone by the words I said at the press conference, I sincerely apologize. I am not antisemitic or racially prejudiced in any way, nor am I a Nazi.'

Von Trier's antics drew little surprise in Copenhagen.

Peter Schepelern of Copenhagen University's film and media studies department said Von Trier himself might have been surprised by the decision.

Speaking on Danish television, Schepelern - who has written several books and articles on the director - said provoking controversy was part of the director's style.

'It's part of his brand, to step over lines,' he added. In 2005, also at Cannes, the director called the then US president George W Bush 'an asshole.'

Von Trier's producer Peter Aalbaek Jensen said that even if the Danish director's new film Melancholia was still in the competition at Cannes it had no chance of winning any awards.

Henrik Bo Nielsen, head of the Danish Film Institute that partly funded the movie, also rejected Von Trier's remarks.

'Personally, I found Lars von Trier's statements repulsive and stupid,' he told Danish news agency Ritzau.

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