Manderlay

Manderlay is a 2005 avant-garde drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier, the second and most recent part of von Trier's projected USA – Land of Opportunities trilogy. Unlike von Trier's other trilogies, the films' stories are connected and it is a direct sequel to Dogville. It stars Bryce Dallas Howard, who replaces Nicole Kidman in the role of Grace Mulligan. The film co-stars Willem Dafoe, replacing James Caan. Lauren Bacall, Željko Ivanek, Jeremy Davies, and Chloë Sevigny return portraying different characters from those in Dogville. Only John Hurt, Udo Kier, and Jean-Marc Barr reprise their roles. The film was internationally co-produced with seven different European countries. The staging is very similar to Dogville, which was shot on a sparsely dressed sound stage akin to black box theater. As in the case of Dogville, Manderlay's action is confined to a small geographic area, in this case a plantation. The film is dedicated in memory of a French film producer, Humbert Balsan (1954-2005).