[1] Festen was the first film of the Dogme 95 movement, which was created by Vinterberg and his fellow Danish director Lars von Trier.

During the toast, he publicly accuses by making a joke over Helge of sexually abusing both him and his twin sister Linda as children.

Some years after making the film, Vinterberg talked about its inspiration: a story told by a young man on a radio show hosted by Kjeld Koplev [da].

He listened to the radio programme and asked the scriptwriter Mogens Rukov to write a screenplay on the events,[1] as if it were the young man's own story.

Dogme films are governed by a manifesto that insists on specific production and narrative limitations (such as banning any post-production sound editing), in part as a protest against expensive Hollywood-style film-making.

On the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 47 critics' reviews of the film are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "As sharp and ruthless as the family dynamic that powers its plot, The Celebration blends tragedy and comedy to brilliant effect.

"[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

[5] Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, writing that it "mixes farce and tragedy so completely that it challenges us to respond at all.

"[6] Psychologist Richard Gartner, who specializes in counseling men who were sexually abused as children, called Festen a praiseworthy film that accurately depicts the consequences of sexual abuse, writing: The extent of the father's transgressions is revealed bit by bit in successive revelations.

The partygoers are momentarily shocked by each disclosure, but then continue to celebrate the birthday in a nearly surrealistic manner that serves as a dramatic enactment of the chronic denial often seen in incestuous families.

[19] In September 2007, a Peruvian production opened starring Paul Vega and Hernan Romero under the direction of Chela de Ferrari.

This production was directed by Jason Byrne and starred Eric Peterson, Rosemary Dunsmore, Nicholas Campbell, Philip Riccio, Allan Hawco, Tara Rosling, Caroline Cave, Richard Clarkin, Earl Pastko, Milton Barnes, Gray Powell, and Alex Paxton-Beesley.

[21] In July 2018, Play Dead Theatre's production of Festen opened at the Rippon Lea Estate in Melbourne.