Festen - Thomas Vinterberg

At a reception for Helge Klingenfelt’s 60th birthday, his son speaks up and reveals a shocking secret that shatters the image of a family of seemingly irreproachable integrity. Performed by actors with rare intensity and shot in a disturbing manner, this film takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster ride of shame, guilt and the quest for redemption. 

Thomas Vinterberg (1969) graduated from the Danish National Film School with his short film Dernier Round (Sidste Omgang, 1993), which won several awards and was nominated for an Oscar in the best short film category. A true pioneer – alongside his compatriot Lars von Trier –- of the Dogme 95 cinematographic movement, advocating a return to expressive and formal understatement, devoid of all artifice, Thomas Vinterberg has made eleven feature films, winning several awards, including the Jury Prize for Festen at the Cannes Festival in 1998.