Background
The Dogme movement was announced on 22 March 1995 at Le cinéma vers son
deuxième siècle conference in Paris, where the cinema world’s elite gathered
to celebrate the first century of motion pictures and contemplate the
uncertain future of commercial cinema. Lars von Trier was called upon to
speak about the future of film but instead showered a bemused audience with
red pamphlets announcing the Dogme 95 movement. Works being produced for the
sake of production, to be appreciated and praised for the sheer fact that
they were produced.


Goals and rules
The goal of the Dogme collective is to purify filmmaking by refusing
expensive and spectacular special effects, postproduction modifications and
other gimmicks. The emphasis on purity forces the filmmakers to focus on the
actual story and on the actors' performances. The audience may also be more
engaged as they do not have overproduction to alienate them from the
narrative, themes, and mood. To this end, Lars von Trier and Thomas
Vinterberg produced ten rules to which any Dogme film must conform. These
rules, referred to as the Vow of Chastity, are as follows:

Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if
a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen
where this prop is to be found).

The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music
must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being filmed).

The camera must be a hand-held camera. Any movement or immobility attainable
in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is
standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.)

The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is
too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be
attached to the camera).

Optical work and filters are forbidden.

The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must
not occur.)

Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the
film takes place here and now.)

Genre movies are not acceptable.

The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, with an
aspect ratio of 4:3, that is, not widescreen. (Originally, the requirement
was that the film had to be filmed on Academy 35mm film, but the rule was
relaxed to allow low-budget productions.)

The director must not be credited.

These rules have been both circumvented and broken, from the first Dogme
film. For instance, Thomas Vinterberg "confessed" to having covered a window
during the shooting of one scene in The Celebration (Festen), which is both
bringing a prop onto the set and using special lighting. There is no
verification process to make a film a Dogme 95 film. Filmmakers submit a
form online and check a box which states they "truly believe that the film
... has obeyed all Dogme95 rules as stated in the Vow of Chastity". As
mentioned on the Dogme 95 website, it's up to the director of the movie to
interpret the rules.

In certain cases, the titles of Dogme films are superfluous, since they are
also referred to by numbers. The spirit of the Dogme technique influenced
Lars von Trier's film Breaking the Waves, although it is not a Dogme film.
The first of the Dogme films was Vinterberg's 1998 film Festen, which is
also known as Dogme #1. Festen was highly acclaimed by many critics, and won
the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year. Von Trier's only Dogme
film, Idioterne (The Idiots, or Dogme #2), was less successful. Since those
two original films were released, other directors have participated in the
creation of Dogme films. For example, the American director Harmony Korine
created the movie Julien Donkey-Boy which is also known as Dogme #6.


[from wikipedia]


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