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direction Lars von Trier; screenplay Lars von Trier, Tomas Gislason; direction of photography Eric Kress; music Joachim Holbek; Dania 1994, duration: 125 min
cast: Ernst-Hugo Järegard, Kirsten Rolffes, Ghita Norby, Soren Pilmark, Udo Kier, Otto Brandenburg, Jens Okking, Holger Juul Hansen, Laura Christensen

Both the world and the Polish premiere of "Antichrist", the latest picture by Lars von Trier, is scheduled for 29 May. The plot is top secret and only the audience of the Cannes Film Festival will get the chance to see the film before this date. "Antichrist" is the first horror film of the director of "Breaking the Waves" and "Dancer in the Dark". On this occasion, TR Warszawa invites you in May and June for the screenings of "The Kingdom", the famous two-part TV series of the Danish director. It was in that miniseries, combining various film genres and conventions, that Lars von Trier first introduced horror elements.

The Kingdom (Danish title: Riget) is an eight-episode Danish television mini-series, created by Lars von Trier in 1994, and co-directed by Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred.

The Kingdom has been described as "ER meets Twin Peaks", and seldom can the standard and the surreal have met in more perfect accord. The hospital that conceals dark secrets is the premise for this riveting "soap"- seen on Danish TV in 1994 - in which science and civilisation are eroded by superstition and instinct. Lars von Trier is not a director who aims to please, and the claustrophobic visuals he draws from handheld cameras and natural lighting anticipate the stripped-down film work of his Dogme 95 movement. Yet there's nothing cerebral about the goings-on here, thanks to the rich variety of characters who people the labyrinthine corridors and functional wards. The Minister's visit and the Haiti jaunt are slapstick humour worthy of the best Python sketches, and Trier is never afraid to mix the prosaic with the profound. There are wonderfully observed performances from Ernst Hugo Jaregard as chequered Swedish surgeon Stig Helmer, and Kirsten Rolffes as common-sense psychic Sigrid Drusse. These are only the first five episodes: having seen them, you'll be awaiting the remainder with impatience. This is persuasive, provocative filmmaking.

Screening co-organized by Gutek Film.