Lars Von Trier's Zentropa Launches VOD Site (Cannes)

2:06 AM PDT 5/11/2011 by Scott Roxborough

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Venture launches May 18 and marks the first time an independent production company has set up its own on-demand platform.

CANNES - Lars Von Trier's production company Zentropa has broken new ground with the launch of its own VOD platform, Zentropaondemand.com. This marks the first time an independent production company has set up its own on-demand film site.

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The site, which will launch May 18, will offer Zentropa's entire catalogue on-demand, from Von Trier's 1984 debut Element of Crime to this year's Foreign Language Oscar winner, In A Better World from Susanne Bier. Zentropa was central to the Dogme95 movement and its back list includes Dogme's best-known titles, including Thomas Vinterberg's Celebration, The King is Alive from Kristian Levring and Lone Scherfig's Italian for Beginners. Users will also get access to Zentropa's television productions, including Von Trier's critically acclaimed series The Kingdom and films and shorts never previously released on DVD.

“The cultural imperialism has now begun for real!” exclaimed Zentropa head Peter Aalbæk Jensen, announcing Zentropa on Demand in Cannes.

Zentropa's site will charge around $5.75 (€4) for new releases, $4.3 (€3) for catalogue titles and $1.44 (€1) per episode for TV series and for short films.

Von Trier's latest, Melancholia starring Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgard and Charlotte Gainsbourg, premieres in Competition in Cannes next week.