Acclaimed but controversial Danish director Lars Von Trier has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The 66-year-old is known for movies like Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, and Melancholia. 

Zentropa, Von Trier’s production company, confirmed the news on Monday that the director had been diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder. However, he was “in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms”, the company said as per The Hollywood Reporter. 

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In a press release, the production company noted that Von Trier would complete postproduction on The Kingdom Exodus, the third and final season of the horror melodrama. The series will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 31 and streaming platform MUBI will bring the director’s work to North American audiences. 

The production company also noted that Von Trier would only do limited press work for the upcoming project, but the director has been press-shy anyway, since the notorious press conference for Melancholia at Cannes in 2011. Von Trier had said jokingly that he “sympathized” with Adolf Hitler and his comment got him banned from the film festival for seven years and there was a police investigation for alleged “trivialization of the Holocaust”. However, Von Trier was not charged and the investigation was dropped. 

The Kingdom has been a long project for Von Trier, who shot the first two seasons in 1994 and 1997. The series combines hospital melodrama with grotesque horror. The story revolves around the staff and patients in a cutting-edge but haunted Copenhagen hospital. 

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The third season boasts of an all-star Scandinavian cast including Mikael Persbrandt, Lars Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Tuva Novotny, with Alexander Skarsgård, with David Dencik guest-starring. 

Von Trier’s contribution to the world of cinema includes the Dogme 95 manifesto, which vows to eschew elaborate special effects or technology to ensure that the film remains focused on acting, story, and theme.