Modern Films has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Steve McQueen’s documentary Occupied City.
The company is eyeing an early 2024 theatrical release date; following on from producer-distributor A24 distributing the film in North America on Christmas Day 2023.
Occupied City has its UK premiere today (October 5) as a Special Presentation at the BFI London Film Festival, with McQueen in attendance. Informed by Bianca Stigter’s book Atlas Of An Occupied City, the film creates two portraits: of the Nazi occupation during the Second World War, and of the recent years of pandemic and protest.
McQueen produced the film with his Lammas Park producer Anna Smith Tenser and Family Affair Films’ Floor Onrust. It is also produced by A24, Film4, and US production company New Regency Productions.
Occupied City debuted as a Special Screening at Cannes this year, before playing Telluride and New York film festivals; with further North American outings at Chicago and AFI Fest lined up.
“We are ready to take this film out to audiences to engage them in the juxtaposition of time, place, visuality and experience. It is a true piece of art and history,” said Eve Gabereau, founder and CEO of Modern Films.
“When I first moved to Amsterdam and explored the streets and history with my partner Bianca Stigter, I had the crushing sensation of what it must’ve been like to live in an occupied city during the Second World War - a city where only a quarter of the Jewish population survived,” said McQueen, who described Modern Films as “such a thoughtful distributor.”
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