Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier has shared a video on Instagram advertising his desire for a “girlfriend and muse”.
Von Trier is known for directing controversial films such as Antichrist, Dogville, and The Idiots, many of which are known for their violent and sexually explicit content.
He has been married twice before: to director Cæcilia Holbek, from 1987 to 1995, and to Bente Frøge, who works with vulnerable youths, from 1997 to 2015. Last August, he announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
In a video shared on Instagram (captioned in English), von Trier holds up a sign to the camera that reads: “Lars von Trier looking for girlfriend/muse.”
He says: “I don’t know what I’ve dragged myself into this time. So before I drown myself in smug advertising, let me make a few things clear. I am 67 years old. I have Parkinson’s, OCD and an at the moment controlled alcoholism. In short, with any luck I should still have a few decent movies left in me.
“All this is meant as an old-school contact ad, where I, without knowing the least about social media, [am] looking for a female girlfriend/muse. And despite all the whining, I still insist that on a good day, in the right company, I can be quite a charming partner. Thank you for your infinite patience.”
The director then instructs any interested parties to contact him at the email address bill.mrk.lars@gmail.com.
In 2017, musician and actor Björk, whom von Trier directed in the 2000 musical film Dancer in the Dark, accused the filmmaker of sexual harassment.
“I am inspired by the women everywhere who are speaking up online to tell about my experience with a Danish director,” she wrote on Facebook at the time.
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“When I turned the director down repeatedly he sulked and punished me and created for his team an impressive net of illusion where I was framed as the difficult one.”
Von Trier denied the accusation at the time, and later reiterated the denial in an interview, stating: “You know, 90 per cent of the journalists I spoke to believe that I harassed Björk, but that’s ridiculous because I denied it, but no one wrote it.
“Because a good story is to write that I harassed her. And this is not the case. I touched her, it’s true. I did it with all my actresses. Because she was doing a really intense job: screaming, being sick…so obviously I hugged her. But if she thinks a hug is harassment, then I think I will not be able to succeed without touching my actors.”
He added: “I did not touch her in the wrong places, I think.”
