Danish filmmaker-producer Per Holst, who worked with fellow auteurs and countrymen Lars von Trier, Nils Malmros and Bille August, has died at the age of 86.
The Hollywood Reporter cited one of his four sons, actor Morten Holst. A cause of death was not given.
According to Denmark’s government-owned broadcast channel TV 2, son Anders Holst explained his father died peacefully in his sleep Saturday morning. “He leaves behind a cultural legacy that we are proud of on his behalf,” Anders Holst told the outlet, adding, “He has been active until the end. Of course not like in his youth, but to the extent he could. He loved to read, watch and talk about films.”
As a prolific producer of dozens of films beginning in the late ’60s, Holst helped bring to life the visions of Trier (1987’s The Element of Crime), Malmros (1981’s Tree of Knowledge, 1983’s Beauty and the Beast, 1992’s Pain of Love and 1997’s Barbara) and August (1983’s Zappa, 1984’s Twist & Shout and 1987’s Pelle the Conqueror, which won the 1988 Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival and the 1989 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, giving Denmark a consecutive win in the category after the previous year’s Babette’s Feast).
Holst also directed 1985’s Walter and Carlo — Up on Daddy’s Hat, the first in the ’80s buddy comedy film series, which still occupies the No. 4 slot on the list of highest-grossing Danish films.
In 1965, he founded his own production company, Per Holst Film, and under that banner broke through as a producer with the cartoon Benny’s Bathtub in 1971. Throughout the years, he has held a number of posts at leading film organizations, including as the chairman of the board of the European Film Academy (2000-05) and director of distribution company Nordisk Film (1991-2002, where he first began his career).
Holst is survived by his wife and sons.