Jorgen Leth was born in Aarhus, Denmark, in June, 1937. After studying literature and anthropology, Leth began his career in the late 1950s as a cultural journalist, writing mainly about jazz and cinema in Copenhagen. He began creating work as a poet at the same time, which has resulted in ten books.

Connected to the literary and artistic vanguard of the 1960s, Jorgen Leth directed his first short in 1963, "Stop for Bud," an homage to the jazz pianist Bud Powell (1924-1966). In 1968, the experimental documentary short "The Perfect Human" established Leth as an international name. In 2003, the Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier co-directed with Leth a revisit of "The Perfect Human" in "The Five Obstructions."

At the beginning of the 1970s, Leth made an enormously successful series of sports documentaries dedicated principally to his childhood passion for cycling. The most celebrated of these is entitled "A Sunday in Hell" (1977), which follows the classic Spring race between Paris and Roubaix with an epic tone.

At the same time, the Danish filmmaker directed a series of anthropological studies inspired by the Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Manilowski. "Life in Denmark" (1972) and "Good and Evil" (1975) portray his own home country. In 1989, Leth retraced Manilowski's path through the Trobrian Islands in "Notes on Love."

Travel documentaries form another highlight of Leth's filmography. He came to Brazil in the mid-1980s to film part of his study of toys from around the world, "Moments of Play" (1986), with a soundtrack by Tom Jobim. He then shot "Notebook from China" (1987) and "66 Scenes from America" (1982), followed in 2002 by "New Scenes from America."

Leth first went to Haiti when he was hired to shoot a thriller (Haiti Express) in 1983, and he has resided in Jacmel since the beginning of the 1990s. In the following years his new home would inspire him to shoot the documentaries "Haiti. Untitled" (1996) and "Dreamers" (2002).

It's All True paid homage to Jorgen Leth with a retrospective of his work in 2003, and once again (with his presence) in 2008. He is currently dedicated to making "The Erotic Human," which was partially filmed in Brazil.