Lars von Trier, breaking silence, worries he can't make films now he's sober

Director Lars von Trier poses during a photocall to promote the movie "Nymphomaniac Volume I" during the 64th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish director Lars von Trier fears he won't be able to make more films because he has quit drinking alcohol and no longer uses drugs. "No creative expression of artistic value has ever been carried out by former alcoholics and drug addicts," von Trier told the newspaper Politiken. It was his first interview since Cannes film festival organizers banned him from their event in 2011 after he joked he was a Nazi at a news conference to promote his film Melancholia. The interview was a front page story in Politiken, a Danish broadsheet, and ran to seven pages inside. Von Trier, who has shocked audiences with sexually graphic films such as Antichrist and Nymphomaniac, said he will be sober for 90 days as of Sunday and is going to meetings at Alcoholics Anonymous every day. The filmmaker was quoted by the newspaper as saying he used to drink a bottle of vodka every day but to be creative he combined the alcohol with different kind of drugs. "I can't recommend anyone to do the same. It is very dangerous and stupid in every way," he said. The father of four, who is married to a teacher, said in the interview he had come to a point where he had to choose between the human Lars Trier and the director Lars von Trier. The director adopted "von" while studying at the Danish Film School. (Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)