Pause on a bridge and watch the Amstel River gently flow through picturesque canals.
A park bench in the Dutch city today.
A young couple embraces in glowing sunshine.
‘Occupied City’A24/New Regency
Eight decades ago, benches in parks and public squares were specifically barred to Jews.
So, therefore, the approach [of the film] had to happen somehow in the now.
There is not a single frame of WWII archive in Occupied City.
Director Steve McQueenJames Stopforth/Thomas Dane Gallery
A24andNew Regencyare behind the documentary, which premieres in the Special Screenings section, out of competition.
Even at 560 pages its not meant to be taken as definitive and complete.
Theres much more information available new books have been written; archives have become much more accessible online.
McQueen filmed in many of those present-day locations where grim history had unfolded.
Often, residents were unaware of the stunning events that had transpired around them.
There werent a lot of people who knew, McQueen says.
And sometimes people just didntwantto know.
The director says he was struck by a certain link between the pandemic and that earlier era.
And there was a communal aspect with it as well.
Everyone was involved in this crisis.
Often, this is something which happened somewhere far away youre not even involved with.
You turn on the TV and you turn it off.
But this is something which we were all involved with.
The documentary runs just over four hours, with an intermission.
The narration is by Melanie Hyams, a British actor, singer and writer based in Amsterdam.
By design, her tone is matter of fact, dispassionate.
Its non-judgmental, Stigter says.
McQueen adds, In a way, this is not a morality tale.
Its a factual tale.
Its information, but its not just throwaway…
I feel that its almost like a schoolteacher telling you something, what happened on this planet called Earth.
Whats currently happening on the planet inspires deep concern among many who view the Nazi era with revulsion.
The documentary shows recent right-wing demonstrations, and counterdemonstrations by those alarmed about the threat to democracy.
Right-wing nationalism has surged in Russia, parts of Eastern and Western Europe, Brazil and the United States.
Amsterdam is local, but [this] is global, McQueen says.
The microscope on this city sort of echoes whats going on throughout the world.
It just amplified in some ways what we were talking about, which happened [80] years ago.
During WW II, three-quarters of Amsterdams Jewish population perished, dispatched to Nazi death camps 60,000 thousand people.
And it serves as an implicit warning.
The fact of the matter is this can happen again, McQueen says.
It is not something which is sort of a fairytale, happened in the past.
This could happen again quite easily.
The parallels are there for everyone to see.
