Lars von Trier, the Danish director behind art-house films Antichrist, Melancholia and Nyphomaniac, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 66.
Zentropa, who produce Von Trier’s movies, announced the news on Monday (8 August) in a press release.
The company explained that, due to the diagnosis, Von Trier will give very few interviews ahead of the launch of his latest project, season three of his cult 1990s television series The Kingdom.
“Lars is in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms – and given treatment so he can complete Riget [The Kingdom] Exodus,” the statement read.
The third season of The Kingdom premieres at the Venice Film Festival on 31 August, and arrives 25 years after the last, which aired in 1997. The show follows the staff and patients of a neurosurgical ward in a Copenhagen hospital.
The new season’s cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Mikael Persbrandt, Lars Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Tuva Novotny and David Dencik.
After the success of the first The Kingdom series, Von Trier made a name for himself as one of the greatest horror directors of all time, with films such as Idioterne, Dogville, Antichrist, Melancholia and Nyphomaniac.
Von Trier was infamously banned for seven years from the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 for declaring at a Melancholia press conference that he “sympathised” with Adolf Hitler.
He returned to the film festival with his 2018 serial killer thriller The House That Jack Built.
