USA - Land of Opportunities

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USA - Land of Opportunities is a trilogy of films by the Danish director Lars von Trier detailing the encounters of an idealistic young woman (Grace) with American life in the 1930s. It begins with the movie Dogville in which Grace is harbored from danger, but then severely exploited, by the poor inhabitants of a small town in Colorado. The second film is Manderlay in which Grace discovers slavery still in existence on an isolated plantation in Alabama; she uses a combination of ideology and brute force in an attempt to bring true democracy to the inhabitants. The trilogy is to conclude with Wasington, a film which was originally due for release in 2007, but has now been put on hold indefinitely.

Each movie is shot with a minimalist approach, occurring entirely on a sound stage dressed with only the bare rudiments of conventional set design. They are filmed using the distinct handheld style championed by Von Trier since his 1995 film The Idiots. These techniques are considered to reflect the deconstruction of sentimental American values (as the director deems them), presenting these themes in an arguably more literal manner.

Although the character of Grace was initially intended to be played by Nicole Kidman in all three films, she abandoned the project following Dogville citing scheduling issues preventing her from reprising the role. Bryce Dallas Howard was cast in her place for the Manderlay shoot.