Europa

Danish director Lars von Trier set his 1991 historical drama Europa in post-war Germany. In North America it was released as Zentropa to avoid confusion with Agnieszka Holland's Europa Europa (1990). It is von Trier's third theatrical feature and closes the Europa trilogy that began with The Element of Crime (1984) and Epidemic (1987). Led by Denmark, it was co-produced by companies from six European countries. It won three awards at the Cannes Film Festival and the best feature award at Sitges.

Leopold Kessler, an idealistic young man living in America, returns to Germany right after the Second World War. He takes a minor job with the Zentropa railway company, where his uncle works. The journey that begins on the train soon becomes a dark experience of love, passion, loyalty and betrayal. Jean-Marc Barr plays Leopold, Barbara Sukowa is Katharina Hartmann, Ernst-Hugo Järegård is Leopold's uncle and Eddie Constantine is Colonel Harris, with Udo Kier and Max von Sydow also in the cast. It began the long collaboration between Barr and von Trier.

Von Trier wrote it with Niels Vørsel, influenced by Franz Kafka's Amerika; the title echoes that novel. The music was composed by Joachim Holbek, von Trier's then brother-in-law and frequent collaborator.