Steve McQueen
Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States | 2023 | 266 min
Swiss Premiere
Languages : English, Dutch, German
Subtitles : English, French
Inspired by Bianca Stigter’s Atlas of an Occupied City, legendary British artist Steve McQueen presents a cross-cultural portrait of Amsterdam, his adopted home: accounts of the systematic oppression of Jewish people in the occupied capital are matched by hypnotic images of everyday modern life, the suspended time of lockdown and demonstrations.
Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, a portrait of his adopted home of Amsterdam, takes its inspiration from Atlas of an Occupied City - Amsterdam 1940-1945, a rigorously documented and critically acclaimed book by the director and historian Bianca Stigter, who is also married to the director. Accounts of the systematic oppression of the Jewish people in the occupied capital city dialogue with hypnotic images of daily modern life, the suspended time of lockdown and protests (in response to the Covid pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, and Donald Trump). Visiting 130 addresses throughout the city, each of which conceals behind its doors stories of this sombre period, the film harnesses an intense emotional power, reinforced by its duration,and reveals both the mechanisms of systematic oppression and unexpected courage; calculated terror and life-saving luck; and ordinary and extraordinary means of survival.
Occupied City, 2023
Widows, 2018
12 Years a Slave, 2013
Shame, 2011
Hunger, 2008
Widows, 2018
12 Years a Slave, 2013
Shame, 2011
Hunger, 2008
Trailer
Photography
Lennert Hillege
Sound
Jos ten KloosterJan Schermer
Editing
Xander Nijsten
Music
Oliver Coates
Production
Steve McQueenFloor OnrustFamily Affair FilmsAnna Smith TenserLammas ParkBianca Stigter
Sales contact
Elise Cochinintlsales@mk2.com
