Europa (1991) is a film directed by Lars von Trier. It is von Trier's third theatrical feature film and was the final film in his Europa trilogy (following The Element of Crime (1984) and Epidemic (1987).)

Europa was released as Zentropa in North America to avoid confusion with Europa Europa (1990). Co-written by von Trier and Niels Vørsel, it tells the story of a young, idealistic American who hopes to "show some kindness" to the German people soon after the end of World War II. In US-occupied Germany, he takes on work as a sleeping car conductor for the Zentropa railway network, falls in love with a femme fatale, and becomes embroiled in a pro-Nazi terrorist conspiracy.

The film features an international cast, including the French-American Jean-Marc Barr, Germans Barbara Sukowa and Udo Kier, expatriate American Eddie Constantine, and the Swedes Max von Sydow and Ernst-Hugo Järegård.

Europa employs an experimental style of cinema; combining largely black and white visuals with occasional intrusions of colour having actors interact with rear-projected footage, and layering different images over one another to surreal effect.

Europa may refer to:

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.

Rolf Åke Michael Nyqvist (born 8 November 1960) is a Swedish actor. Educated at the School of Drama in Malmö, he became well known from his role as police officer Banck in the first series of Beck movies made in 1997. He is recently most recognized for his role in the internationally acclaimed Millennium series as Mikael Blomkvist.

Nyqvist was born in Stockholm, to a Swedish mother and an Italian father (from Florence). As a baby, he was adopted from an orphanage. At seventeen, he spent a year as an exchange student in the United States in Omaha, Nebraska. He took his first acting classes there, as a senior in high school playing, amongst other things, a small part in the drama Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. When he returned to Sweden, he was accepted at ballet school, but after one year gave it up. An ex-girlfriend suggested he try theatre instead and at 24 he was accepted to the Malmö Theatre Academy. After graduating, Nyqvist worked mainly in theatre but also landed smaller parts in several different film productions.

Lars von Trier (Danish pronunciation: [ˈlɑːs fʌn ˈtʁiːˀɐ]; born Lars Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective – an avant-garde filmmaking movement – although his own films have taken a variety of approaches. His work has frequently divided the critics.

Von Trier began making films at the age of eleven. Raised by a communist mother and a socialist father in an austere environment, he converted at the age of 30 to the Catholic Church. Von Trier suffers periodically from depression, as well as various fears and phobias, including an intense fear of flying. As he himself said in an interview, "Basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking".. His first publicly released film was an experimental short called The Orchid Gardener (1977) and his first feature film came seven years later with The Element of Crime (1984). Among many other prizes, awards and nominations, he is the recipient of the Palme d'Or, the Grand Prix, and the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.