The Celebration

• Thomas Vinterberg
• 105 min
• Denmark, Sweden
• 1998
• Fiction

Vinterberg’s breakthrough film about family, loss, and guilt portrays deeply human and complex emotions, earning an immediate place in film history.

Respected businessman and family patriarch Helge is celebrating his 60th birthday at the family estate, with relatives and friends gathered for the occasion. But the dinner takes an unexpected and shocking turn when his son Christian delivers a speech that no one – neither the father nor the guests – will ever forget. The Celebration (Festen) was the first film created under the Dogme 95 manifesto, a cinematic movement co-founded by Thomas Vinterberg. The manifesto emphasized handheld cameras, natural lighting, and unaltered sound. The film’s raw simplicity, brilliant performances, and layered, uncompromising narrative continue to captivate and move audiences to this day.


- Pia Lundberg

• Drama
• Retrospektiv
• Familj
• Hämnd
• Försoning
• Omskakande