Dogma 25 Movement Launches 30 Years After Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s Dogme 95

It’s now been 30 years since Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg launched the Dogme 95 movement, featuring a set of stripped-down filmmaking rules to put power back in the hands of directors. While films such as Festen, The Idiots, and even Harmony Korine’s Julien Donkey-Boy emerged, it eventually died out about a decade on, […] The post Dogma 25 Movement Launches 30 Years After Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s Dogme 95 first appeared on The Film Stage.

May 19, 2025 - 15:05

Dogma 25 Movement Launches 30 Years After Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s Dogme 95

It’s now been 30 years since Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg launched the Dogme 95 movement, featuring a set of stripped-down filmmaking rules to put power back in the hands of directors. While films such as Festen, The Idiots, and even Harmony Korine’s Julien Donkey-Boy emerged, it eventually died out about a decade on, but now a group of Danish directors have launched their own manifesto with Dogma 25.

As formed by May el-Thouky (Queen of Hearts), Milad Alami (The Charmer), Isabella Eklöf (Holiday), Annika Berg (Hurricane), and Jesper Just, it comes at an opportune time as the industry undergoes many challenges. “We celebrate Dogma 95, the filmmakers who came before us, and those who will come after. We stand together to defend artistic freedom as a shield against pointlessness and powerlessness. Dogma 25 is a rescue mission and a cultural uprising,” the filmmakers said. “In a world where formulaic films based on algorithms and artificial visual expression are gaining traction, it is our mission to stand up for the flawed, distinct, and human imprint. We champion the uncompromising and unpredictable, and we fight against the forces working to reduce cinematic art to an ultra-processed consumer product.”

With the statement made at Cannes Film Festival in Zentropa’s villa, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg added, “In ’95, we made films in the certainty of peace and created a revolt against conformity. In ’25, new dogmas were created, now in a world of war and uncertainty. We wish you the best of luck on your march toward reconquering Danish film.”

With the hopes for each of the five directors to make a feature within the next three years, they’ve already raised around $1.5 million for each film. As we await more updates, read the manifesto below.

Dogma 25 is a collective of filmmakers founded in Copenhagen in the spring of 2025. Our stated purpose is to preserve the originality of cinema and the opportunity to create film on its own terms.
The role of the director has increasingly been reduced to that of project manager, the film to a commodity, and the audience to consumers. Experimental practice is stifled by fear of risk-taking, which suffocates artistic exploration and silences unique voices. When films are merely executed and not allowed to evolve organically, it puts the art form in danger of becoming functional, obedient and thereby irrelevant.
In a world where formulaic films based on algorithms and artificial visual expression are gaining traction, it’s our mission to stand up for the flawed, distinct, and human imprint. We champion the uncompromising and unpredictable and we fight the forces working to reduce cinematic art to an ultra-processed consumer good.
By scaling down production, we ensure that everyone on the team has an intimate relationship with the film and its message. This will enhance mutual trust and a sense of collective responsibility for the film and for each other. It also allows us to safeguard the flexibility that is vital in making a creative process dynamic and intuitive, rather than purely executive.
We celebrate Dogma 95, all the filmmakers who came before us, and those who will come after. We stand together to defend artistic freedom as a shield against pointlessness and powerlessness. DOGMA 25 is a rescue mission and a cultural uprising.
To protect and preserve what we hold dear, we hereby submit to the unflinching and unbreakable set of rules called: THE VOW OF CHASTITY.
THE VOW OF CHASTITY
I vow to submit to the following set of rules drawn up and confirmed by Dogma 25:
1. The script must be original and handwritten by the director.
We compel ourselves to write the script by hand in order to nurture the kind of intuition that flows most freely from the dream, channeled through the hand onto the paper.
2. At least half the film must be without dialogue.
We insist on a cinematic approach to filmmaking because we believe in visual storytelling and have faith in the audience.
3. The internet is off limits in all creative processes.
We commit to produce the films relying on real people within our physical reality – rather than in a digital one infused with algorithms.
4. We’ll only accept funding with no content-altering conditions attached.
We assume responsibility for keeping budgets down so the team retains final say in all artistic decisions.
5. No more than 10 people behind the camera.
We commit to working in close collaboration to build trust and strengthen our shared vision.
6. The film must be shot where the narrative takes place.
Film as an art form becomes artificial and generic when we portray a location in a false light.
7. We’re not allowed to use make-up or manipulate faces and bodies unless it’s part of the narrative.
Just as we strive to maintain the authenticity of the location, we also want to portray the human body without a filter. We celebrate it – warts and all.
8. Everything relating to the film’s production must be rented, borrowed, found or used.
We commit to making films using objects that already exist and renounce the ahistorical and self-destructive culture of consumerism.
9. The film must be made in no more than one year.
We abstain from any lengthy processes that stand in the way of creative flow.

The post Dogma 25 Movement Launches 30 Years After Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s Dogme 95 first appeared on The Film Stage.