Rules of Dogma Add 'Character' to Italian for Beginners Art films are different from mainstream films in many ways , including the acting, plot and setting. Art filmmakers use different techniques to distinguish their films from mainstream films. The move away from mainstream cinema occurred through the creation of the Dogma Manifesto. Dogma 95 was a set of rules for film production that required filmmakers to innovate through new methods of filmmaking. One of these films, created according to the rules of Dogma 95, is Italian for Beginners. Although Italian for Beginners does not follow all the aesthetic rules of Dogma film production, the characters and their stories allow the viewer to engage with the film on both a formal and content level. Italian for Beginners follows many Dogma rules, but it does not adhere to the eighth rule that genre films are not allowed in the Dogma movie. Peter Schepelern states that "the film is a romantic comedy, and it is precisely the genre-bound organization of the romantic bonds between the six somewhat strange and traumatized main characters that makes the film strong." (95). Therefore, breaking any of the commandments from the movie Dogma does not take anything away from Italian for Beginners. Even though “a genre always has its own set of implicit rules” (Schepelern 98), the director and screenwriter of Italian for Beginners, Lone Scherfig, enjoys success. This success can be attributed to the fact that Scherfig did not allow the genre to affect the depth of the characters. If the characters were to fit into certain prototypes, then the film would not achieve the goals of Dogma 95. The six main characters do not have typical relationships and are not simple people. For example, Olympia has fetal alcohol... middle of paper ... film producers will look for other ways to adapt for cinema. Cinema has seen many changes over the years, such as the New Wave, Dogma, and _________ movements. Screenwriters and producers have looked for ways to make their films stand out, and they will likely continue to be inventive in the future.Works CitedBordwell, David. “Art cinema as a mode of cinematographic practice.” Film theory and criticism. Ed. Léo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. Oxford University Press, 2009: 649-657. Nestingen, Andrew K and Trevor G Elkington. Transnational cinema in a global North: Nordic cinema in transition. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2005: 73-111. Schepelern, Peter. “Film according to dogma: basic rules, obstacles and liberations. » Transnational cinema in a global North. Ed. Andrew Nestingen and Trevor G. Elkington. Detroit: Wayne State Press, 2005: 73-107