Jørgen Leth

Jørgen Leth studied at Aarhus University, Fjordsgade forenings- og fritidshus and Marselisborg Gymnasium. The recorded working language is Spanish, English and Danish. The field of work recorded is documentary film, journalism and creative and professional writing. Employment is recorded with Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Los Angeles. Distinctions recorded are Weekendavisen Book Award, Statens Kunstfonds hædersydelse, Robert Honorary Award and Nordisk Film Prisen.

Born on 14 June 1937 in Aarhus, Denmark, Leth studied literature and anthropology in Aarhus and Copenhagen and was a cultural critic (jazz, theatre, film) for leading Danish newspapers from 1959 to 1968. His interest in Polish anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski had a profound influence on his work. He traveled in Africa (1961), South America and India (1966), and Southeast Asia (1970–71). His first book was published in 1962. He wrote 10 volumes of poetry and eight non-fiction books.

Leth made his first film in 1963 and eventually made 40 more, many distributed worldwide. His most acclaimed is a 1968 short, The Perfect Human, which also featured in the 2003 film The Five Obstructions made by Leth and Lars von Trier. Leth's sports documentaries bring an epic, almost mythic, dimension to the field, as seen in Stars and Watercarriers (Stjernerne og Vandbærerne) (1973) and A Sunday in Hell (En forårsdag i helvede) (1977). He was a creative consultant for the Danish Film Institute (1971–73, 1975–77) as well as chairman of the institute's board (1977–82). He was also a professor at the Danish National Film School in Copenhagen, at the State Studiocenter in Oslo and lectured at UCLA, Berkeley, Harvard, and other American universities. Leth covered the Tour de France for Denmark's TV 2 from 1988 until 2005 as the expert commentator in partnership with journalist Jørn Mader, and again from 2009 in partnership with Dennis Ritter and Rolf Sørensen. In 1999, he was appointed Danish honorary consul in Haiti.

Leth attracted controversy in Denmark after publication of his autobiography Det uperfekte menneske (The Imperfect Human). It included a graphic account of sexual relations with the 17-year-old daughter of his cook in Haiti. This created a media storm in Denmark, partly because of his plan to make a film called Det Erotiske Menneske ("The Erotic Human"), funded by the Danish Film Institute, in collaboration with DR (Danmarks Radio) and Nordisk Film and TV Commission. The controversy upset several groups in Denmark. In October 2005, due to the controversy, he was dismissed as commentator with TV2. Leth then considered to quit finishing his film Erotic Man, but close friend and fellow filmmaker Lars von Trier met with Leth and promised to let himself credit as executive producer on the film, in order to support Leth's artistic work. Erotic Man premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010. The film received lacklustre reviews which deemed it "dirty-old-man cinema" and colonialist exploitation.

Leth married three times and had four children: Asger (film director), Karoline, Kristian and Tomas. Leth moved to Haiti in the late 1980s and referred to it as his second home. He lived in Jacmel from 1991 until 2010, when the Haiti earthquake destroyed his rented home and most of his possessions. In 2013, Leth was still living in Haiti for about six months of the year, but with friends on the northern coast. Leth died on 29 September 2025, at the age of 88.

Stopforbud, 1963 Look Forward to a Bright Future, 1965 The Perfect Human, 1968 Near Heaven, Near Earth, 1968 Ophelia's Flowers, 1969 Motion Picture, 1970 The Search, 1970 The Deergarden, the Romantic Forest, 1970 Chinese Table-tennis, 1970 Life in Denmark, 1971 Stars and Watercarriers, 1973 Klaus Rifbjerg, 1974 Good and Evil, 1974 A Sunday in Hell, 1977 Peter Martins – A Dancer, 1978 Kalule, 1979 Dancing Bournonville, 1979 66 Scenes from America, 1982 Step on Silence, 1981 Pelota, 1983 Haiti Express, 1983 Moments of Play, 1986 Notebook from China, 1986 Notes on Love, 1989 Danish Literature, 1989 Traberg, 1992 Michael Laudrup – A Football Player, 1993 Haiti, Untitled, 1996 I'm Alive – Soren Ulrik Thomsen, Poet, 1999 Dreamers, 2002 New Scenes from America, 2002 The Five Obstructions (with Lars von Trier), 2003 Aarhus (2005) Erotic Man (2010) I Am Talking To You (2013) Pelota II (with Olatz Gonzalez Abrisketa), 2015