Director Lars von Trier has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, according to a press release from Zentropa obtained by The Copenhagen Post. The Oscar-nominated Danish film director is 66.
“Lars is in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms – and given treatment so he can complete ‘Riget Exodus,’” said the statement from Zentropa, the film company started by von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen.
According to the press release, the filmmaker plans to continue working on the third season of his series, “The Kingdom,” which is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 31.
However, the diagnosis means that von Trier “will only take part in interviews to a limited extent until the premiere later in the year.”
The third season, titled “The Kingdom Exodus,” is the final installment of “The Kingdom,” which first premiered in 1994 on Danish public broadcaster DR. The newest season is co-written by von Trier and Niels Vørsel, who also teamed up to write the first two seasons of the show.
The supernatural series takes place in a Copenhagen hospital and centers on the patients and staff in the neurosurgical ward.
The renowned director has previously been involved in controversy when he was barred from Cannes in 2011 for seven years due to comments that “sympathized” with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. He made his reintroduction at the festival in 2018 for the world premiere of “The House That Jack Built.”
Besides “The Kingdom,” von Trier is known for directing titles such as Cannes’ Palme d’Or–winning “Dancer in the Dark,” “Antichrist,” “Melancholia,” “Nymphomaniac” and “Dogville.”
