THE PURIFIED (DE LUTREDE) International Documentary Competition

Jesper Jargil’s THE PURIFIED punctures the myths and misunderstandings of the Dogme revolution, revealing the truths behind the movement that, in many ways, transformed filmmaking, even as it threatened to collapse under the weight of its own ambitions.

In 1995, in an effort to reclaim the joy of filmmaking, world-renowned filmmaker Lars von Trier (BREAKING THE WAVES, DANCER IN THE DARK) and three other talented Danish filmmakers vowed to adopt a new philosophy of filmmaking called Dogme, which featured 10 principles aimed at stripping away the excesses of bloated, high-budget film productions. Years later, after garnering world acclaim, winning top prizes at Cannes and, almost unwittingly, inspiring a new generation of mavericks, von Trier and his friends sit down together in THE PURIFIED to discuss-and often argue about-the failures, successes and goals of each other’s movies and Dogme as a whole.

After watching THE PURIFIED, followers of other revolutions-the American, punk rock-will wish they had their own Jesper Jargil, someone who could show us the birth and growing pains of a movement first-hand and unfiltered, through the eyes and dreams of its framers.