Steve McQueen’s critically acclaimed documentary Occupied City will be released in UK cinemas 9 February 2024.
Occupied City had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, but UK audiences still have a while to wait until they can sit down to watch it. Modern Films are bringing the Holocaust documentary to UK cinemas 9th February 2024.
Here’s the film’s official synopsis: “The past collides with our precarious present in Steve McQueen’s bravura documentary OCCUPIED CITY, informed by the book, Atlas of an Occupied City: Amsterdam 1940-1945 written by Bianca Stigter. McQueen creates two interlocking portraits: a door-to-door excavation of the Nazi occupation that still haunts his adopted city, and a vivid journey through the last years of pandemic and protest. What emerges is both devastating and life-affirming, an expansive meditation on memory, time, and where we’re headed.”
Melanie Hyams narrates the film which draws a parallel between modern day Amsterdam and the city ravaged by Hitler’s troops in World War II. Occupied City represents another bold film in McQueen’s filmography. So far, the visionary director has given us challenging real-life dramas (Hunger, 12 Years A Slave), vibrant portraits of community (Small Axe) and thrilling stories of resilience and the human condition (Widows, Shame).
Occupied City is a lengthy film with a runtime of 266 minutes. That’s 4 hours and 26 minutes, but fear not. There will be a 15 minute intervention in the middle, giving you a chance to empty your bladder and grab some more snacks or just stretch your legs. It really puts the recent calls for intermissions into perspective.
Modern Films are also hosting a special screening with a Q&A with McQueen and Bianca Stigter, the film’s writer. The event will take place on 11th February at Barbican but the event will be broadcast in cinemas nationwide. A24 is releasing the film in the US on 25th December 2023.
