{"id":61930,"date":"2018-01-10T15:24:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T14:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/ku-giver-sonningprisen-til-lars-von-trier-og-det-glaeder-hans-gamle-laerer\/"},"modified":"2018-01-10T15:33:56","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T14:33:56","slug":"ucph-awards-sonning-prize-to-lars-von-trier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/ucph-awards-sonning-prize-to-lars-von-trier\/","title":{"rendered":"UCPH awards Sonning Prize to Lars von Trier \u2013 Biographer: \u201cBrilliant\u201d decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of Copenhagen has named Lars von Trier as the next recipient of Denmark\u2019s most prestigious cultural award. The internationally acclaimed director will be presented with the Sonning Prize during a 19 April ceremony.<\/p>\n

The Sonning Prize is normally awarded every other year<\/secret> to an individual who the university finds has done \u201ccommendable work for the benefit of European culture<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Von Trier will be just the third Dane to receive the award (putting him in company with Nobel-prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr and Sydney Opera House architect J\u00f8rn Utzon). The accolade, according to Peter Schepelern, a retired University of Copenhagen associate professor<\/a>, is well deserved and a \u201cbrilliant\u201d decision.<\/p>\n

\n

ABOUT THE Sonning PRIZE<\/p>\n

Denmark\u2019s most prestigious cultural award, the 1 million kroner Sonning Prize, was established by author and editor CJ Sonning (1879-1937)<\/strong>. It is awarded every other year to an individual who is \u201cfound to have done commendable work for the benefit of European culture\u201d.<\/p>\n

Previous winners include: Winston Churchill, Albert Schweizer, Karl Popper, Laurence Olivier, Dario Fo, Hannah Arendt, Simone de Beauvoir, J\u00fcrgen Habermas, G\u00fcnther Grass<\/strong> and V\u00e1clav Havel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The winner is selected by a committee organised by the University of Copenhagen and led by rector Henrik C Wegener<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe Sonning Prize has generally gone to authors, philosophers and other great minds. This marks the fourth time over the past 20 years or so that a European director has received it. Ingmar Bergman was the first, then Krzysztof Kie\u015blowski and, in 2014, it went to Michael Haneke. That is esteemed company, and von Trier certainly belongs there. He has the same gravity, importance and originality. So, in that sense, von Trier is a brilliant choice for the award. It is a recognition of his importance. He is, without a doubt, the most important figure in Danish film since Dreyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proud to have been his teacher<\/h2>\n

According to Schepelern, Carl Dreyer, a director active from the 1920s to the 1960s, played a key role in von Trier\u2019s role as a director.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe started off as a huge admirer of Dreyer \u2013 the great, maligned, isolated director whose dark and strange way of looking at things ran counter to the approach his contemporaries took. That was something young Lars associated with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schepelern was one of von Trier\u2019s professors while he studied film at the University of Copenhagen in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d use the term \u2018studied\u2019 in its loosest possible sense,\u201d Schepelern says. \u201cHe didn\u2019t do any of his assignments or sit his exams, but I remember that he did attend lectures and that he fell in with others who were interested in film. He met some other people his age who helped him make his first ambitious film. In that respect, I\u2019m glad, as one of his teachers, that he was selected for the award. He was a unique young man who was always very much himself, and who had some ideas that got the chance to reveal somewhat for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still experimenting<\/h2>\n

Schepelern recalls one particular experimental short film von Trier made during his time at the university, Orchid\u00e9gartneren<\/em> (The Orchid Gardener<\/em>), which he reckons was likely the film that got him into film school.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrchid\u00e9gartneren<\/em> was a very perplexing story about a young, suffering artist and his relationship to a woman, who possibly was two women. It was a perverse film that dealt with his anxiety about women. You were left with the impression that this might be the start of an outlandish career.\u201d
\n
\nPerhaps the most outlandish thing about von Trier\u2019s career as a director is that he continues to experiment as a director.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally what you see is that young, wannabe artists start off doing weird things, then they settle in and end gradually drift towards the mainstream. Von Trier, on the other hand, has stayed on the cutting-edge and kept experimenting. He makes big-budget films now, but they are still films about his strange visions. He hasn\u2019t gone through that settling-in process that the hindsight of middle-age brings. No, Lars is still searching for something, still pushing new boundaries with his art.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hugely important to Trier<\/h2>\n

In a written statement to the Ritzau news bureau about being chosen for the award, von Trier said: \u201cIt is with pride and gratitude that I learned that the Sonning Committee has selected me as the award\u2019s 2018 recipient. To have been found to have produced \u201ccommendable work\u201d is particularly gratifying, since that, in all humility, has been what I have been trying to accomplish all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schepelern believes the statement can be taken at face value.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tempting to think that, given von Trier\u2019s sarcastic and unconventional view of society, he would be arrogant about being recognised, but I don\u2019t get the impression he is. Did it matter to him that he won the Palme d\u2019Or in Cannes 18 years ago for Dancer in the Dark? It did. It was hugely important to him. And I\u2019m sure that the Sonning Prize is too. Is the biggest culture award we have in Denmark, not just in terms of prestige but also financially.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sonning Prize carries with it a payment of 1 million kroner.<\/p>\n

VIDEO: Lars von Trier speaks with Peter Schepelern during a 77-minute interview in 2015 at a University of Copenhagen event<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have time to sit through the video above, the highlights are available in an article we published at the time<\/a>.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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- og kommende Sonningprismodtager - Lars von Trier interviews af Peter Schepelern under et arrangement p\u00e5 KU i april 2015."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Award-winning","text":"Lars von Trier will receive Denmark\u2019s most prestigious cultural award, the Sonning Prize. Von Trier biographer and retired University of Copenhagen professor calls the decision to give the award to a former student who neither handed in assignments nor showed up for exams a \u201cbrilliant\u201d idea","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The University of Copenhagen has named Lars von Trier as the next recipient of Denmark\u2019s most prestigious cultural award. The internationally acclaimed director will be presented with the Sonning Prize during a 19 April ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>The Sonning Prize is <secret text=\"The prize was last awarded in 2014 to director Michael Haneke. No award was given in 2016.\">normally awarded every other year<\/secret> to an individual who the university finds has done \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/event.ku.dk\/sonning_prize\/\">commendable work for the benefit of European culture<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Von Trier will be just the third Dane to receive the award (putting him in company with Nobel-prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr and Sydney Opera House architect J\u00f8rn Utzon). The accolade, according to<a href=\"http:\/\/He has also written two books about von Trier.\"> Peter Schepelern, a retired University of Copenhagen associate professor<\/a>, is well deserved and a \u201cbrilliant\u201d decision.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">ABOUT THE Sonning PRIZE<\/p>\n<p>Denmark\u2019s most prestigious cultural award, the 1 million kroner Sonning Prize, was established by <strong>author and editor CJ Sonning (1879-1937)<\/strong>. It is awarded every other year to an individual who is \u201cfound to have done commendable work for the benefit of European culture\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Previous winners include: <strong>Winston Churchill, Albert Schweizer, Karl Popper, Laurence Olivier, Dario Fo, Hannah Arendt, Simone de Beauvoir, J\u00fcrgen Habermas, G\u00fcnther Grass<\/strong> and <strong>V\u00e1clav Havel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The winner is selected by a committee organised by the University of Copenhagen and led by<strong> rector Henrik C Wegener<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe Sonning Prize has generally gone to authors, philosophers and other great minds. This marks the fourth time over the past 20 years or so that a European director has received it. Ingmar Bergman was the first, then Krzysztof Kie\u015blowski and, in 2014, it went to Michael Haneke. That is esteemed company, and von Trier certainly belongs there. He has the same gravity, importance and originality. So, in that sense, von Trier is a brilliant choice for the award. It is a recognition of his importance. He is, without a doubt, the most important figure in Danish film since Dreyer.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Proud to have been his teacher<\/h2>\n<p>According to Schepelern, Carl Dreyer, a director active from the 1920s to the 1960s, played a key role in von Trier\u2019s role as a director.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe started off as a huge admirer of Dreyer \u2013 the great, maligned, isolated director whose dark and strange way of looking at things ran counter to the approach his contemporaries took. That was something young Lars associated with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schepelern was one of von Trier\u2019s professors while he studied film at the University of Copenhagen in the 1970s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d use the term \u2018studied\u2019 in its loosest possible sense,\u201d Schepelern says. \u201cHe didn\u2019t do any of his assignments or sit his exams, but I remember that he did attend lectures and that he fell in with others who were interested in film. He met some other people his age who helped him make his first ambitious film. In that respect, I\u2019m glad, as one of his teachers, that he was selected for the award. He was a unique young man who was always very much himself, and who had some ideas that got the chance to reveal somewhat for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Still experimenting<\/h2>\n<p>Schepelern recalls one particular experimental short film von Trier made during his time at the university,<em> Orchid\u00e9gartneren<\/em> (<em>The Orchid Gardener<\/em>), which he reckons was likely the film that got him into film school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Orchid\u00e9gartneren<\/em> was a very perplexing story about a young, suffering artist and his relationship to a woman, who possibly was two women. It was a perverse film that dealt with his anxiety about women. You were left with the impression that this might be the start of an outlandish career.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"He didn\u2019t do any of his assignments or sit his exams, but I remember that he did attend lectures and that he fell in with others who were interested in film","quotee":"Peter Schepelern, retired University of Copenhagen associate professor, about von Triers' years as a film student at the University of Copenhagen","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Perhaps the most outlandish thing about von Trier\u2019s career as a director is that he continues to experiment as a director.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNormally what you see is that young, wannabe artists start off doing weird things, then they settle in and end gradually drift towards the mainstream. Von Trier, on the other hand, has stayed on the cutting-edge and kept experimenting. He makes big-budget films now, but they are still films about his strange visions. He hasn\u2019t gone through that settling-in process that the hindsight of middle-age brings. No, Lars is still searching for something, still pushing new boundaries with his art.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Hugely important to Trier<\/h2>\n<p>In a written statement to the Ritzau news bureau about being chosen for the award, von Trier said: \u201cIt is with pride and gratitude that I learned that the Sonning Committee has selected me as the award\u2019s 2018 recipient. To have been found to have produced \u201ccommendable work\u201d is particularly gratifying, since that, in all humility, has been what I have been trying to accomplish all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schepelern believes the statement can be taken at face value.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s tempting to think that, given von Trier\u2019s sarcastic and unconventional view of society, he would be arrogant about being recognised, but I don\u2019t get the impression he is. Did it matter to him that he won the Palme d\u2019Or in Cannes 18 years ago for Dancer in the Dark? It did. It was hugely important to him. And I\u2019m sure that the Sonning Prize is too. Is the biggest culture award we have in Denmark, not just in terms of prestige but also financially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Sonning Prize carries with it a payment of 1 million kroner.<\/p>\n<p><em>VIDEO: <a href=\"http:\/\/video.ku.dk\/lars-von-trier-temadag\">Lars von Trier speaks with Peter Schepelern during a 77-minute interview in 2015 at a University of Copenhagen event<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have time to sit through the video above, the highlights are available <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/lars-von-trier-interview-cocaine-and-female-actors\/\">in an article we published at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":43,"name":"Culture","slug":"culture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":43,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":562,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":796,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/larsvontrierapril2015emmaflokstra-1280x853.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61930"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61939,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61930\/revisions\/61939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}