Thirty years after the release of the Dogma 95 filmmaking movement, five Rising Danish filmmakers launched Dogma 25 today (May 17) in Cannes. A manifesto that commits them to similarly strict rules of naturalistic filmmaking with the aim of “keeping the film originality and creating films in its own words.”
May El Tukey, Mirad Arami, Annika Berg, Isabella Ekrov, and Jesper created the “Official of Chastity” and the “Official of Chastity” that commits them to the 10 rules.
The rules include having 10 or fewer people behind the camera, writing a script by hand, half of the film has only dialogue, using make-up to use only in part of the story, filming only where the story takes place, and accepting only funding that does not affect the content.
Scroll down for more information
Zentropa, broadcaster DR and Nordisk Film Distribution will provide basic funding with support from the Danish Film Institute.
TrustNordisk oversees international sales.
The initiative was launched at a press conference attended by five filmmakers from Zentropa Villa in Cannes. The banner has been announced from the balcony of a Nordic house in Square Merime on the other side of the Palais.
El-Toukhy incited the initiative in late 2024, powered by Zentropa Producers and Managing Directors Louise Vesth and Sisse Graum Jorgensen, who are responsible for funding and launching the initiative.
Dogma 95 was launched in 1995 by filmmakers including Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg as a creative exercise in aesthetic restraint. The film produced under the first “The Vow of Chastity” included Fontlier fool and vintberg’s Congratulations.
“We celebrate Dogma 95, the filmmaker who came before us. “We will work together to protect artistic freedom as a shield against meaninglessness and helplessness. Dogma 25 is a rescue mission and a cultural uprising.”
“In ’95, we made a film in the certainty of peace. And it created a rebellion against conformity. In 2025, a new doctrine was created in the world of war and uncertainty.
Chastity Oath: Dogma 25 Manifesto
Dogma 25 is a group of filmmakers founded in Copenhagen in the spring of 2025. Our clear aim is to maintain the ingenuity of the film and the opportunity to create films in their own terms.
The role of the director is increasingly reduced to the role of the project manager, the role of the film to film, and the role of the audience to consumers. Experimental practice is suppressed by the fear of taking the risk of suffocating the unique voice of artistic quest and silence. If the film is simply performed and not allowed to evolve organically, the art form is at risk of becoming functional and submissive, thereby becoming irrelevant.
In a world where standard films based on algorithms and artificial visual representations are gaining traction, it is our mission to stand up to the flawed, clear, and human imprint. We defend the uncompromising and unpredictable, and fight against the forces that work to reduce cinematic art to the good of highly processed consumers.
By reducing production, we ensure that everyone on the team has an intimate relationship with the film and its message. This enhances a sense of mutual trust and collective responsibility for the film and each other. It also protects the flexibility that is essential to making creative processes dynamic and intuitive, rather than purely executive.
Dogma 95, celebrate all the filmmakers who have come before us, and those who have come after us. We stand together and protect artistic freedom as a shield against meaninglessness and helplessness. Dogma 25 is a rescue mission and a cultural uprising.
To protect and preserve what we cherish, we submit here to a set of rules called the Chastity Oath, a flinch and unbreakable.
Chastity Oath:
I vow to submit to the following set of rules created and confirmed by Dogma 25.
1. The script must be original and handwritten by the director.
We cultivate the intuition that flows most freely from our dreams, and force us to write scripts by hand so that we can be guided to paper through our hands.
2. At least half of the films must be without dialogue.
We believe in visual storytelling and trust our audience, so we advocate for a cinematic approach to filmmaking.
3. The Internet is off limits in all creative processes.
We promise to make films that rely on real people in physical reality, not on digital ones with algorithms injected.
4. Accept only funds that do not have conditions attached to modify the content.
It takes responsibility for keeping the budget down, and the team retains final decisions in every artistic decision.
5. Less than 10 people behind the camera.
We are committed to working closely with us to build trust and strengthen our shared vision.
6. The film must be filmed where the story takes place.
Film as an art form becomes artificial and common when portraying a place in false light.
7. We are not permitted to manipulate makeup or face or body unless it is part of the story.
I want to portray the human body without filters, as I strive to maintain the credibility of the place. We celebrate it – warts and everything.
8. Everything related to film productions should be rented, rented, discovered or used.
We promise to make films using objects that already exist, and abandon the historical, self-destructive culture of consumerism.
9. The film must be made within a year.
We refrain from the long process that gets in the way of creative flow.
10. Make the film as if it was your last.
(TagStoTRASSLATE)Cannes (T)Denmark (T)Europe (T)Nordic (T)Scandinavia
