Second DOGMA 25 film officially underway!

Since DOGMA 25 was announced in Cannes in May last year, there has been considerable curiosity surrounding the five directors upcoming films. The second film in the new movement is now underway, with director Annika Berg beginning work on GOD IS LOVE – BACKWARD IT’S DOG, today, Monday, January 26.

Director Annika Berg says: “It will be extraordinary to make a film in a single stroke – without constant interference from external bodies. This may be the first and only opportunity I have to create a film in this way, and I am deeply grateful for it. I am convinced that DOGMA 25 will give rise to intense, personal and uncompromising films that will serve future filmmakers.”

As per tradition, the start of the project was marked by a ceremony at Zentropa, where Annika Berg rang the bell, officially beginning the countdown to the completed film. In accordance with the vow of chastity, Annika now has one year to finish the film.

Speaking about her film, Annika Berg says: “My film will be a radically feminine, soft, fluffy and tender work. It is a tribute to humankind’s best friend, dogs – because, as Linse Kessler says, ‘All dogs are angels.’”

Download press stills from the ceremony here.

DOGMA 25 was launched in May 2025 during the Cannes Film Festival, exactly 30 years after the original DOGMA 95 movement. A collaboration between Zentropa, DR and Nordisk Film Distribution has secured base financing for the new DOGMA 25 films, the first of which, Isabella Eklöf’s MR. NAWASHI, began production on October 6, 2025. With the start of GOD IS LOVE – BACKWARD IT’S DOG, the DOGMA 25 movement is now fully underway.

GOD IS LOVE - BACKWARD IT’S DOG is expected to have its world premiere in spring 2027

About Annika Berg
Filmmaker and visual artist Annika Berg graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2015. She won a Robert Award for her graduation film SIA and made her feature debut with Team Hurricane (2017), which won the Verona Film Club Award at its world premiere in the International Film Critics’ Week sidebar at the Venice Film Festival.

About DOGMA 25
In May 2025 – exactly 30 years after DOGMA 95 – five prominent filmmakers initiated the DOGMA 25 movement. In addition to Annika Berg, the collective consists of directors May el-Toukhy, Milad Alami, Isabella Eklöf and Jesper Just. United by a shared manifesto and a new vow of chastity comprising ten new dogmas, the filmmakers aim to safeguard the artistic integrity of the feature film and create space for uncompromising storytelling in a new era.

Drawing on their respective artistic practices, the five directors have established a framework for bold and uncompromising cinematic storytelling that insists on presence, necessity and integrity — both as a collective movement and as an individual challenge.

DOGMA 25 was initiated by May el-Toukhy, who brought the five directors together. The project is realised through a collaboration between Zentropa, DR and Nordisk Film Distribution, which has secured base financing enabling the films to be produced under the conditions set out by DOGMA 25. The aim is to secure additional financing as the films take shape.

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For further information, please contact:
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Manifesto:
DOGMA 25 is a collective of filmmakers founded in Copenhagen in the spring of 2025. Our stated purpose is to preserve the originality of cinema and the opportunity to create film on its own terms.

The role of the director has increasingly been reduced to that of project manager, the film to a commodity, and the audience to consumers. Experimental practice is stifled by fear of risk-taking, which suffocates artistic exploration and silences unique voices. When films are merely executed and not allowed to evolve organically, it puts the art form in danger of becoming functional, obedient and thereby irrelevant.

In a world where formulaic films based on algorithms and artificial visual expression are gaining traction, it’s our mission to stand up for the flawed, distinct, and human imprint. We champion the uncompromising and unpredictable and we fight the forces working to reduce cinematic art to an ultra-processed consumer good.

By scaling down production, we ensure that everyone on the team has an intimate relationship with the film and its message. This will enhance mutual trust and a sense of collective responsibility for the film and for each other. It also allows us to safeguard the flexibility that is vital in making a creative process dynamic and intuitive, rather than purely executive.

We celebrate DOGMA 95, all the filmmakers who came before us, and those who will come after. We stand together to defend artistic freedom as a shield against pointlessness and powerlessness. DOGMA 25 is a rescue mission and a cultural uprising.

To protect and preserve what we hold dear, we hereby submit to the unflinching and unbreakable set of rules called: THE VOW OF CHASTITY.

THE VOW OF CHASTITY:
I vow to submit to the following set of rules drawn up and confirmed by DOGMA 25:

1. The script must be original and handwritten by the director.
We compel ourselves to write the script by hand in order to nurture the kind of intuition that flows most freely from the dream, channelled through the hand onto the paper.

2. At least half the film must be without dialogue.
We insist on a cinematic approach to filmmaking, because we believe in visual storytelling and have faith in the audience.

3. The internet is off limits in all creative processes.
We commit to produce the films relying on real people within our physical reality – rather than in a digital one infused with algorithms.

4. We’ll only accept funding with no content altering conditions attached.
We assume responsibility for keeping budgets down so the team retains final say in all artistic decisions.

5. No more than 10 people behind the camera.
We commit to working in close collaborations to build trust and strengthen our shared vision.

6. The film must be shot where the narrative takes place.
Film as an art form becomes artificial and generic when we portray a location in a false light.

7. We’re not allowed to use make-up or manipulate faces and bodies unless it’s part of the narrative.
Just as we strive to maintain the authenticity of the location, we also want to portray the human body without a filter. We celebrate it – warts and all.

8. Everything relating to the film’s production must be rented, borrowed, found, or used.
We commit to making films using objects that already exist and renounce the ahistorical and self-destructive culture of consumerism.

9. The film must be made in no more than one year.
We abstain from any lengthy processes that stand in the way of creative flow.

10. Create the film as if it were your last.

The five directors behind DOGMA 25:
May el-Toukhy (b. 1977)
Director and screenwriter. Graduate of the National Film School of Denmark (2009). Debuted with the feature film Long Story Short (2015) and had her breakthrough with the award-winning film Queen of Hearts (2019), which world premiered at Sundance International Film Festival and received numerous awards at festivals all over the world, e.g. the Audience Award at Sundance, the Nordic Council Film Prize as well as 3 awards at Gothenburg International Film Festival. May el-Toukhy has moreover directed multiple episodes of the award-winning Netflix hit series The Crown.

Milad Alami (b. 1982)
Director and screenwriter. Graduate of the National Film School of Denmark (2011). Made his debut with the critically acclaimed feature film The Charmer (2017), which had its international premiere at San Sebastian International Film Festival, while his second feature Opponent (2023) world premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, and became the Swedish contender for the Academy Award, and was nominated for The Nordic Council Film Prize. Besides his work on feature films, he co-created and directed the TV series Bullshit which won several Robert Awards and was praised for its nerve and ambition.

Annika Berg (b. 1987)
Filmmaker and visual artist. Graduate of the National Film School of Denmark (2015). Won a Robert Award for her graduation film SIA. Debuted with Team Hurricane (2017) which won one of the four main awards, Verona Film Club Award, at the world premiere of the Venice International Film Critics' Week, a parallel section of the Venice International Film Festival.

Isabella Eklöf (b. 1978)
Screenwriter and director. Had her directorial debut with the feature film Holiday (2018) which had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival and has since, among other projects, directed the feature film Kalak (2023) based on Kim Leine’s acclaimed novel, which was selected for and received the Special Prize of the Jury at San Sebastian Film Festival in 2023. As a screenwriter Eklöf has also and co-written the feature film Border (2018) with Ali Abbasi.

Jesper Just (b. 1974)
Video artist and filmmaker. Graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts(2003). He represented Denmark at the 55th Venice Biennale and has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions including Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Guggenheim (NYC) and Eye Filmmuseum (Amsterdam). His work is included in several permanent public collections such as MoMA, The Met, Tate Modern and many others. Combines film and installation in artworks that explore gender, space, and perception.

The producers:
Louise Vesth (b. 1973) and Sisse Graum Jørgensen (b. 1972) both have managing roles at Zentropa and are currently considered two of Denmark’s most successful producers. They have received numerous awards and nominations in total, and many of their films have been selected for the film festivals at Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, plus many other A-list film festivals over the years. Their films have collectively sold over 10 million Danish cinema tickets, and they have produced nine out of the 15 most viewed Danish theatrical releases over the past 15 years. Between them, they have produced feature films for world-renowned directors such as Lars von Trier, Susanne Bier, Thomas Vinterberg, Nikolaj Arcel, and Anders Thomas Jensen. In 2023, the leading American trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, named them among the 40 most influential women in the international film industry.

About Zentropa:
Zentropa was founded by Peter Aalbæk Jensen and Lars von Trier in 1992 and has since evolved into one of Europe’s leading production companies known for its high international quality and innovative approach to filmmaking. In 1995, Zentropa initiated the DOGMA 95 movement and has since received countless awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film as well as six Academy Award nominations, one Golden Globe statuette and five nominations, the Palme d’Or, and other awards at the Cannes Film Festival, one BAFTA Award, and 22 European Film Awards.