By Rob Moran
Filmmaker Lars von Trier has hinted at a potential return to Cannes, the film festival where he was once declared "persona non grata", with his upcoming thriller The House That Jack Built, a serial killer film he says is inspired by US president Donald Trump.
The provocative Danish auteur, known for his sparse early Dogme films and controversial arthouse favourites including Dancer In The Dark and Dogville, discussed the project in Sweden where the film is currently shooting with stars Matt Dillon and Uma Thurman, Screen Daily reports.
Set in Washington in the '70s, the film has been described as a "coming-of-age tale" about a serial killer (Dillon), following him over the course of his first five murders.
"There were so many people we sent the script to, who said they would do anything to work with me... except this script," von Trier joked, describing the strained reaction to the film so far.
Danish director Lars von Trier says his upcoming serial killer film is inspired by "rat king" Donald Trump.
"And then there were two – Matt and Uma – who said yes, and I asked 'Are you sure?' And they said, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' I think we should make a little test of their reading abilities."
The press conference was von Trier's first since his infamous comments at Cannes in 2011, where, while promoting his film Melancholia alongside star Kirsten Dunst, he jokingly referred to himself as "a Nazi" and said he "sympathised a little bit" with Hitler. Festival organisers quickly branded him "persona non grata", before later backtracking and saying the ban was only for one year.
Following the controversy, von Trier issued a statement saying he was facing charges over the comments, which violated French laws against the "justification of war crimes".
"Due to these serious accusations, I have realised that I do not possess the skills to express myself unequivocally and I have therefore decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews," he said in October 2011.
Von Trier at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival with Melancholia stars Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst.
He had largely kept out of the public eye since then, promoting his most recent film, 2013's explicit two-parter Nymphomaniac starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Shia LaBeouf, with video teasers and a press shot of himself with duct tape over his mouth.
But last month, he shared details about his new project in an interview with The Guardian, connecting its origins to Donald Trump's US presidential win.
"The House That Jack Built celebrates the idea that life is evil and soulless, which is sadly proven by the recent rise of the Homo Trumpus, the rat king," he said.
The film is due in cinemas in 2018.