Last year, Lars Von Trier's next film, “After,” received funding from the Danish Film Institute, as revealed by AFP. The Telegraph later reported that the film would start production this summer. Sadly, that hasn’t come to pass.
Von Trier now lives part-time at a nursing home, and the promise from Producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen was that the situation would not deter the filmmaker from making the film. However, the film has clearly seen its shoot delayed. I really hope it gets made.
Earlier in the year, Producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen revealed that Von Trier’s recent bout with Parkinson’s and his mortality would be taking center stage in the film as “After,” would tackle “death and life after death.”
After has always been designed to be made based on Lars' physical condition. He has always used limitations for something creative, and now it is his own physical limitation that he incorporates into the creative
In the fall of 2022, Von Trier announced that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 66. It was shattering news. He’s one of the great filmmakers of the last 30 or so years, definitely one of the most influential.
Von Trier hasn’t directed a film since 2018’s “The House That Jack Built,” an unfairly maligned 3-hour dark comedy about a serial killer, played by Matt Dillon. It was provocative, disgusting, fearless, trolling — Von Trier’s best traits.
The Danish filmmaker has established himself as one of the great directors of cinema, his influence can be seen everywhere, and that’s thanks to films such as “Breaking the Waves,” “Melancholia,” “Dancer in the Dark” and “Dogville.”
Sending him our best wishes right now. We miss him—cinema just isn’t the same without him. Here’s hoping he finds a way to bring “After” to life.
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.