The Celebration

Festen
Danish theatrical release poster
Directed byThomas Vinterberg (uncredited, per the rules of Dogme 95)
Written by
Produced byBirgitte Hald [da]
Starring
CinematographyAnthony Dod Mantle
Edited byValdís Óskarsdóttir
Music byLars Bo Jensen
Production
company
Distributed byScanbox Danmark
Release dates
  • 17 May 1998 (1998-05-17) (Cannes)
  • 19 June 1998 (1998-06-19) (Denmark)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryDenmark
Languages
  • Danish
  • English
BudgetUS$1.3 million

The Celebration (Danish: Festen) is a 1998 Danish black comedy-drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and produced by Nimbus Film. It tells the story of a family gathering to celebrate their patriarch's 60th birthday, during which a family secret is revealed. Vinterberg's inspiration for the film, which he wrote with Mogens Rukov, was an interview broadcast by a Danish radio station, though the interview was later discovered to be a hoax.[1]

Skjoldenæsholm Castle was the filming location of Festen.

Festen was the first film of the Dogme 95 movement, which was created by Vinterberg and his fellow Danish director Lars von Trier. The movement preferred simple and analog production values to allow for the highlighting of plot and performance. The film won the Jury Prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and was selected as the Danish entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but it was not chosen as one of the final five nominees for the award.[2]

  1. ^ Christensen, Claus (18 May 2003). "Der var engang en fest". Ekko. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  2. ^ "45 Countries Submit Films for Oscar Consideration". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 19 November 1998. Archived from the original on 19 February 1999. Retrieved 20 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)