Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish film director. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches.

Phobias
Lars von Trier has said that "a film should be like a rock in the shoe". In order to create original art he feels that filmmakers must distinguish themselves stylistically from other films, often by placing restrictions on the filmmaking process. The most famous restriction is the cinematic "vow of chastity" of the Dogme95 movement with which he is associated, though only one of his films, The Idiots, is an actual Dogme95 film. In Dancer in the Dark, dramatically-different color palettes and camera techniques were used for the "real world" and musical portions of the film, and in Dogville everything was filmed on a sound stage with no set where the walls of the buildings in the fictional town were marked as a line on the floor.
Von Trier often shoots his scenes for longer periods than most directors to encourage actors to stay in character. In Dogville he let actors stay in character for hours, in the style of method acting. The rules and restrictions are a break from the traditional Hollywood production, though directors such as Robert Altman have long been using such techniques of working with actors. These techniques often put great strain on actors, most famously with Björk during the filming of Dancer in the Dark. Like many auteurs, he uses the same regular group of actors in many of his films. Some of his frequently used actors are Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgård.
He is heavily influenced by the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer and the film The Night Porter. He was so inspired by the short film The Perfect Human directed by Jørgen Leth that he challenged Leth to redo the short five times in feature film The Five Obstructions.

Filming techniques
Most of von Trier's films and television projects are parts of thematic and stylistic trilogies. The exceptions to this rule are his early work from before he graduated the Danish Film School and some TV projects.
His pattern of creating trilogies started with his first feature film, marking the beginning of The Europe Trilogy, though he claims a trilogy was not initially planned, instead being applied to the films in retrospect. The Europe trilogy illuminated the traumas of Europe in the past and future. This trilogy includes The Element of Crime (1984), Epidemic (1988) and Europa (1991).
The Golden Heart trilogy was about naive heroines who maintain their 'golden hearts' despite the tragedies they experience. This trilogy includes Breaking the Waves (1996), The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000). While all three films are sometimes associated with the Dogme 95 movement, only The Idiots is a certified Dogme 95 film.
The USA - Land of Opportunities trilogy follows the character of Grace, and is set in a stylized American past. Von Trier has stated he was inspired to make a trilogy about the United States as a reaction to Americans at the Cannes film festival who said he had no right to make the Dancer in the Dark, which was often viewed as being critical of a country he has never been to (and has no intention of ever visiting, due to his phobia of travel); however, von Trier himself has stated in interviews he did not intend it to be a criticism of America, saying the film takes place in a "fictional America." Lars von Trier proposed the films as 'a series of sermons on America's sins and hypocrisy', inspired by the fact that American movie makers have made many movies about places across the world to which they have not travelled. Given that each of the films deals with idealists who come unstuck in attempting to prescribe solutions to what they perceive to be the wrongs of society, this comment may be considered to be very much more subtle than it first appears. All three movies will be shot in the same distinctive style, on a bare sound stage with no set and buildings marked by lines on the floor. This style is inspired by 1970s televised theatre. The trilogy consists of Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005) and Wasington [sic] (in production).
The Kingdom (Riget) was planned as a trilogy of three seasons with 13 episodes in total, but the third season was not filmed due to death of star Ernst-Hugo Järegård shortly after completion of the second season.

Trilogies

The Element of Crime (1984, part one of the "Europe" trilogy)
Epidemic (1987, part two of the "Europe" trilogy)
Europa / Zentropa (1991, part three of the "Europe" trilogy)
Breaking the Waves (1996, part one of the "Golden Heart" trilogy)
Idioterne / The Idiots (1998, part two of the "Golden Heart" trilogy)
Dancer in the Dark (2000, part three of the "Golden Heart" trilogy)
Dogville (2003, part one of the "USA: Land of Opportunity" trilogy)
Manderlay (2005, part two of the "USA: Land of Opportunity" trilogy)
Direktøren for det hele / The Boss of It All (2006)
Antichrist (2008) pre-production
Wasington (shelved indefinitely, part three of the "USA: Land of Opportunity" trilogy) Television filmography

Orchidégartneren / The Orchid Gardener (1977)
Menthe - La bienheureuse (1979)
Nocturne (1980)
Den sidste detalje / The Last Detail (1981)
Befrielsesbilleder / Images of a Relief (1982)
De fem benspænd / The Five Obstructions (segment: "The Perfect Human: Avedøre, Denmark") (2003)
Chacun son cinéma / To Each His Own Cinema (segment: "Occupations") (2007)