Lars von Trier’s production company, Zentropa, and its culture of misogyny have made the news again. Only a couple weeks after a report was published detailing the organization’s constant “sexual harassment, degradation, and bullying,” 12 producers from 11 countries have released a statement condemning an event Zentropa hosted last month.

The event featured company co-founder Peter Aalbaek Jensen exposing himself to the audience and a short film including footage of a naked von Trier and Aalbaek Jensen. The short film also managed to squeeze in some disparaging remarks about Björk, who previously accused an unnamed Danish director of sexual harassment. (Von Trier is widely believed to be the Danish filmmaker in question. He directed Björk in “Dancer in the Dark.”)

“[Zentropa is] a place that has been portrayed as an alternative, liberated film institution. A place that claims true creative innovation,” the producers observe in their statement. “What we experienced could certainly be classified by some as alternative, but it was anything but liberating or innovative. Instead we encountered a brazen display of toxic masculinity.”

Not only were the producers offended by the behavior on display at Zentropa’s event, the mistreatment gave them a glimpse of what sexual harassment and abuse victims have dealt with: “That evening at Zentropa, we felt trapped,” they reveal. “We were in a room with colleagues and industry professionals, and suddenly, in this warm and welcoming place, we began to feel afraid. Afraid because we were absolutely infuriated by the mockery and disrespect that we witnessed, but that our shock immobilized us from confronting it. Individually we questioned ourselves, ‘Is anyone else seeing this?’ ‘Am I over-reacting?’”

In other words — under the guise of self-deprecation — Zentropa divulged its true colors at the event and the producers gained firsthand knowledge of what the company’s victims have gone through. Like so many others who have experienced abuse, the producers froze and questioned themselves even though they knew they weren’t the ones misbehaving.

After the producers went public with their story, Zentropa apologized in its own statement. According to Indiewire, Zentropa head of administration and legal Anders Kjærhauge said: “We hosted the event, and our wish was to make a nice and good evening for all the participants. We have done these kind of events with success a lot of times often using self-ironic statements. It was never our intention to make fun of victims for sexual harassment … We are very sorry and had we had the knowledge we have today, we would never have made fun of the situation.”

To which we can only respond: Knowledge of what? That sexual harassment and abuse is real and serious? That making fun of victims is unbelievably tactless? That sexual harassment is less funny now that Harvey Weinstein et al. have been called out?

The “sorry, JK” statement doesn’t really cut it anymore: things seem to finally be changing. Maybe now von Trier, Aalbaek Jensen, and others like them will think twice before they decide that their comic genius is somehow more worthy of attention than decades of systemic sexism.

You can read the producers’ full joint statement about the Zentropa event below.

On 26th October, as part of a delegation of 70 international film producers & industry in Copenhagen for a producers workshop, we were invited to Film City, the home of Zentropa, Denmark’s most celebrated independent film production company founded by Peter Aalbaek Jensen and Lars Von Trier.

The week before Icelandic musician Björk had issued a statement accusing Lars Von Trier of sexual harassment during the filming of Dancer in the Dark in which she starred. This was the first instance of its kind to be attributed to a European filmmaker in the wake of Hollywood’s Harvey Weinstein revelations. However, the full magnitude of these revelations were not yet known, not yet at the epidemic proportions we know today.

The evening commenced with the usual pleasantries as we were welcomed by one of Zentropa’s female producers. On stage Aalbaek Jensen and band preformed cover songs, above them a wall of the most esteemed of industry accolades and awards sparkled down at us.

Aalbaek Jensen smiled benevolently, whilst introducing us to his penis, which is displayed in a naked picture of himself on the walls of the premises on a poster.

First came a film — a short film of about ten minutes opening with a swimming, naked Peter and Lars — recounting some highlights and idiosyncrasies from the first 12 years of Zentropa, including tales of Bjork’s ‘difficult’ behaviour on Dancer in the Dark.

Then followed numerous crude jokes, on sexual harassment and its recent association with Zentropa.

The producer MC called on the interns — who all stood up and waved to identify themselves — and mockingly invited us to approach them over the course of the evening, to reveal to us their experience of Zentropa, whether they had any personal experience or insight into sexual harassment there. We were then invited to indulge — in their food, drink and hospitality, to swim in their pool, to sample their sauna.

We had started the evening intrigued but conflicted to be at Zentropa. A place that has been portrayed as an alternative, liberated film institution. A place that claims true creative innovation. What we experienced could certainly be classified by some as alternative, but it was anything but liberating or innovative. Instead we encountered a brazen display of toxic masculinity.

That evening at Zentropa, we felt trapped. We were in a room with colleagues and industry professionals, and suddenly, in this warm and welcoming place, we began to feel afraid. Afraid because we were absolutely infuriated by the mockery and disrespect that we witnessed, but that our shock immobilised us from confronting it. Individually we questioned ourselves, “Is anyone else seeing this?” “Am I over-reacting?”

Sexual harassment is a sequence of hostile actions of a sexual nature. The actions — as well as their repetition and intensity — weakens the victim on a psychological level. Harassment seeks to intimidate the victim or to dominate. Sometimes, the aim is obtain a sexual act. Sexual harassment also refers to solicitations of sexual favors at work under threat of sanction. We believe it is important to work on a process of verbalisation, to be able to use words to describe the bad things. Sexual harassment is violence that we can’t minimise or deny.

By mocking sexual harassment we minimise the voice of the victim. It becomes a mopping up of the situation. It’s what perpetrators do to all of their victims. They don’t exist anymore. They are disparaged and mocked in a sort of soulless objectification. And then the victim falls apart. All victims fall apart as their stories are disparaged.

And Bjork? Her testimony is neither trivial nor simple. It required courage and dignity. Björk freed up her voice.

We, as a group of film producers, were shocked and upset by the disrespect displayed at Zentropa that night. Not least to Bjork, but to all victims of sexual harassment, assault and abuse.

So we started to rise up. First with a discussion amongst some of us on the night, growing over the days and weeks that followed. We returned to our home countries, our own film communities and spoke about what we saw there.

We then heard of the further claims of sexual harassment, degradation and bullying by 9 former staffers at Zentropa disclosed by Politiken

Today, we refuse to be quiet: in keeping quiet, in ignoring the voices of victims and letting the perpetrators speak, we risk being complicit. The example of Zentropa’s denial only perpetuates a culture of inequality.

We don’t accept what we saw and heard the night of October 26th on their premises. We don’t accept what we see and hear in our own countries, in our own film communities.

We want to say to victims of sexual harassment and sexual violence that we are listening to them and we hear them. That the world is changing. As film producers, we believe it’s our responsibility to listen, to hear and to understand. It’s our responsibility to lead the change in our work environments, on our film sets.

We stand for zero tolerance of any form of discrimination and harassment. We stand with the victims. Stand with us.

Stéphane Hueber-Blies, a_BAHN, France / Luxembourg
Rosie Crerar, barry crerar, Scotland
Cait Pansegrouw, Urucu Media, South Africa
Jérémy Forni, Chevaldeuxtrois, Belgium / France
Alba Sotorra, Alba Sotorra SL, Spain
Julia Tal, 2:1 Film, Switzerland
Federico Sande Novo, Le Tiro Cine, Argentina
Muge Ozen, Solis Film, Turkey
Sabine Gruber, FlairFilm, Austria
Karen Harnisch, Film Forge, Canada
Juan Pablo Richter Paz, Bolivia
Alba Sotorra, Alba Sotorra SL, Spain