Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier is in trouble once again for talking sympathetically about Nazis.
Von Trier, who made headlines before the Cannes Film Festival this year for saying he “was actually a Nazi” and “sympathized with him [Adolf Hitler] a bit,” told a public forum at the Berlin Film Festival that “history shows that we are all Nazis somewhere … the way we do not investigate it is to make it a taboo to talk about it.”
The controversial director also commented to German journalists that “the French are the real Nazis.” The Hollywood Reporter suggested that Von Trier was referring to France’s anti-Gypsy policies.
He tried to deflect criticism by reaffirming the Jewish heritage of his stepfather, Ulf Trier, telling The Independent that “since he was Jewish and gave me a cultural Jewish upbringing, I am as good a Jew as any.”
For his comments this year, Von Trier has already been banned for life from the Cannes Film Festival.
Watch: Kirsten Dunst reacts to Trier’s remarks