Lars von Trier was "carried away" in Nazi conference

Controversial director Lars von Trier has vowed to shun press conferences following his comments about Adolf Hitler at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Melancholia director was banned from the prestigious event this week after joking to reporters that he "sympathised" with the Nazi dictator.

Despite previously admitting to being "a little proud" of the scandal, von Trier once again apologised for his actions and insisted to the BBC that he simply got "carried away" during his moment in the spotlight.

He said: "I am sorry for my own sake and I am sorry if I have hurt anyone, that was not my intention at all. It was completely and absolutely stupid.

"I blame myself, because you can say words in press conferences which can be taken out of context. But I was carried away. I thought I was sitting with my friends talking, and then suddenly I was talking to the world."

Explaining his comments further, he added: "I have thought about it, and when I said, 'I sympathise with Hitler', I would have used 20 words in Danish to explain that I am interested in the man himself, and then hopefully people would have understood.

"I understand these issues are a no-go area. I do like to provoke, but mostly I do it for a reason. I am not a Nazi, or an anti-Semite, and I had nothing to achieve... I am not trying to excuse myself, it was extremely stupid of me."

Watch Lars von Trier talk about Hitler below: