Jørgen Leth

Jørgen Leth

Born (1937-06-14) 14 June 1937
Aarhus, Denmark
Occupation Director
Author
Years active 1962–present

Jørgen Leth (born 14 June 1937) is a Danish poet and film director who is considered a leading figure in experimental documentary film making.[1] Most notable are his epic documentary A Sunday in Hell (1977) and his surrealistic short film The Perfect Human (1967). He is also a sports commentator for Danish television and is represented by the film production company, Sunset Productions.

Early life

Born on 14 June 1937 in Aarhus, Denmark, Leth studied literature and anthropology in Aarhus and Copenhagen and was a cultural critic (jazz, theatre, film) for leading Danish newspapers from 1959 to 1968. His interest in Polish anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski had a profound influence on his work. He traveled in Africa (1961), South America and India (1966) and Southeast Asia (1970–71). His first book was published in 1962. He has written 10 volumes of poetry and eight non-fiction books.

Film career

Leth made his first film in 1963 and has since made 40 more, many distributed worldwide. His most acclaimed is a 1967 short, The Perfect Human, which also featured in the 2003 film The Five Obstructions made by Leth and Lars von Trier. Leth's sports documentaries bring an epic, almost mythic, dimension to the field, as seen in Stars and Watercarriers (Stjernerne og Vandbærerne) (1973) and A Sunday in Hell (En forårsdag i helvede) (1977).[2]

He has been a creative consultant for the Danish Film Institute (1971–73, 1975–77) as well as chairman of the Institute's board (1977–82). He has also been a professor at the Danish National Film School in Copenhagen, at the State Studiocenter in Oslo and has lectured at UCLA, Berkeley, Harvard and other American universities.

Leth covered the Tour de France for Denmark's TV 2 from 1988 until 2005 as the expert commentator in partnership with journalist Jørn Mader, and again from 2009 in partnership with Dennis Ritter and Rolf Sørensen. In 1999, he was appointed Danish honorary consul in Haiti.[3]

Controversy

He attracted controversy in Denmark after publication of his autobiography Det uperfekte menneske (The Imperfect Human). It included a graphic account of sexual relations with the 17-year-old daughter of his cook in Haiti.[4] This created a media storm in Denmark,[5] partly because of his plan to make a film called Det Erotiske Menneske ("The Erotic Human"), funded by the Danish Film Institute, in collaboration with DR (Danmarks Radio) and Nordisk Film and TV Commission. The controversy upset several groups in Denmark.[6] In October 2005, due to the controversy, he resigned his post as Danish consul in Haiti and was dismissed as commentator with TV2,[7] but was reappointed in 2009. Leth then considered to quit finishing his film Erotic Man, but close friend and fellow filmmaker Lars von Trier met with Leth and promised to let himself credit as executive producer on the film, in order to support Leth's artistic work. Erotic Man premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010. The film received lacklustre reviews which deemed it "dirty-old-man cinema" and colonialist exploitation.[8][9][10]

Personal life

Leth has been married three times and has four children: Asger, Karoline, Kristian and Tomas.[11]

Leth moved to Haiti in the late 1980s and referred to it as his second home.[11] He lived in Jacmel from 1991 until 2010, when the Haiti earthquake destroyed his rented home and most of his possessions.[12] In 2013, Leth was still living in Haiti for about six months of the year, but with friends on the northern coast.[11]

Honors

Retrospectives of Leth's work have been held at the National Film Theatre in London (1989), in Rouen, France (1990), at the American Film Institute in Washington D.C. (1992), in Mumbai, India (1996), New York (2002), Sao Paulo (2003), Toronto (2004), Florence (2005), Rome (2006), Sao Paulo (2008), Warsaw (2008) and Teheran (2008) and at the Athens International Film Festival in Athens (2009).

He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including:

Selected bibliography

Leth at the annual book fair, BogForum 2008, at Forum Copenhagen.

Two biographies of Leth have been published in Denmark.

Filmography

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Hjort, Mette & Ib Bondebjerg The Danish Directors, Intellect Books, (2001) 228pg, p58, ISBN 1-84150-841-1
  2. ↑ (Hjort 2001, p. 58)
  3. ↑ "Jørgen Leth Kan Miste sin title som konsul i Haiti". Politiken (in Danish). 4 October 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  4. ↑ DR, Jørgen Leth risikerer fængsel i Haiti for sex med mindreårige Danmark Radio Nyheder, 7 October 2005
  5. ↑ Schou, Ann-Jette, Jørgen Leth – en provo?, Danmark Radio Nyheder, 17 August 2007
  6. ↑ DR, Jørgen Leth trækker sig fra alle poster, Danmark Radio Nyheder, 7 October 2005
  7. ↑ (Schou 2007)
  8. ↑ Robert Koehler (26 September 2010). "Erotic Man". Variety. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
  9. ↑ Joshua Rothkopf (12 September 2010). "Toronto: On Hereafter, and aging ungracefully". Time Out New York. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
  10. ↑ Michael Sicinski. "Festival". Cargo. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
  11. 1 2 3 Søresen, Dorte Hygum (May 4, 2013). "Jørgen Leth: Jeg stopper, når jeg styrter" [Jørgen Leth: "I stop when I rush"]. Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  12. ↑ Harbsmeier, Andreas (April 10, 2010). "Haitis gru set gennem Leths temperament" [Haiti's horror as seen through Leth's temperament]. Dagbladet Information (in Danish). Retrieved 20 October 2013.
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