Von Trier 'persona non grata' at Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival has banned director Lars Von Trier after he claimed to be a Nazi and that he sympathised with Adolf Hitler, the BBC News reported.

In a statement issued on Thursday, organisers said the Danish film-maker was now "persona non grata".

The director issued an apology on Wednesday for comments made at a press conference earlier in the day.

"I am not anti-Semitic or racially prejudiced in any way, nor am I a Nazi," he said in a statement.

The festival's pronouncement came after Wednesday's premiere of Von Trier's new film Melancholia, which remains in competition at this year's event.

The decision was supported by French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand who told reporters in Brussels that "there is a major difference between a film that was chosen in a calm atmosphere and a director who clearly blew a fuse".

He added Von Trier's remarks "did not have a place in the festival, or anywhere else for that matter".

Organisers said Cannes' board of directors had held "an extraordinary meeting" at which Von Trier was declared "a persona non grata... with effect immediately".

The director's comments, they said, were "unacceptable, intolerable and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the festival".

The 55-year-old is a previous winner of the festival's Palme d'Or award and is renowned for courting controversy.

Von Trier's off-colour remarks, purportedly made in jest, were the talk of the festival on Wednesday and prompted a swift rebuke from organisers.

The director stunned onlookers by stating he "sympathised" with Hitler and for saying that while he was "not against Jews... Israel is a pain in the ass".

The festival said it had been "disturbed" by the 55-year-old's comments and had asked him to "provide an explanation".

"The director states that he let himself be egged on by a provocation," its initial statement read.

"The festival is adamant that it would never allow the event to become the forum for such pronouncements on such subjects."

Von Trier and his stars were all smiles as they took to the red carpet on Wednesday at the official screening of Melancholia.

The mood was very different earlier, however, when the director's remarks were met by awkward, stony silences.