The Celebration
| Festen | |
|---|---|
Danish theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Thomas Vinterberg (uncredited, per the rules of Dogme 95) |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | Birgitte Hald |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Anthony Dod Mantle |
| Edited by | Valdís Óskarsdóttir |
| Music by | Lars Bo Jensen |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Scanbox Danmark |
Release dates |
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Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Denmark |
| Languages |
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| Budget | US$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.
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.