Tag: Steve McQueen

  • Steve McQueen’s marathon documentary divides Cannes

    By AFP

    CANNES: Eyelids grew heavy and bums numb on Thursday at a four-and-a-half-hour screening of Steve McQueen’s documentary on Amsterdam during World War II, which Cannes critics either adored or suffered through.

    The director of Oscar-winning ‘Twelve Years a Slave,’ tells the story of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, a city where he now lives without a single shot of archival footage.

    Instead, he films people in their homes and scenes around the city, while a narrator recounts, without emotion, the horrors that took place in that spot when the Netherlands suffered one of the highest rates of Jewish deaths in Europe.

    Much of the documentary, ‘Occupied City’, was filmed during the Covid lockdown, and images of boarded-up stores, an announcement of a curfew, and protests, at times play as a backdrop to the World War II narration.

    The disconnect between the past and the present is purposeful.

    “It’s about living with ghosts and about the past and the present sort of merging,” McQueen told Variety magazine.

    However, the lengthy museum-installation-style documentary had several audience members nodding off. More than two dozen left before the 15-minute intermission, with others not returning for the second half.

    Some critics gushed over the monumental project and its novel approach, with Deadline calling it one of the “great WWII-themed films,” while others slammed it as “numbing.”

    “The film is a trial to sit through, and you feel that from almost the opening moments,” said Variety.

    “It’s more like listening to 150 encyclopedia entries in a row. Who did McQueen think he was making this movie for? If it plays in theatres, it seems all but designed to provoke walk-outs.”

    “Occupied City” is inspired by a book written by McQueen’s historian partner Bianca Stigter:  “Atlas of an Occupied City (Amsterdam 1940-1945).”

    McQueen shot 36 hours of film for the project over three years.

    “It wasn’t a case of wanting to do something long,” McQueen said in an interview with IndieWire. “It was a case of wanting to do something right.”

    “As much as it is about the past, this film is extremely about the present,” McQueen said.

    “Unfortunately, we never seem to learn from the past. Things sort of overtake us,” he said, referring to the rise of the far-right in modern times.

    CANNES: Eyelids grew heavy and bums numb on Thursday at a four-and-a-half-hour screening of Steve McQueen’s documentary on Amsterdam during World War II, which Cannes critics either adored or suffered through.

    The director of Oscar-winning ‘Twelve Years a Slave,’ tells the story of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, a city where he now lives without a single shot of archival footage.

    Instead, he films people in their homes and scenes around the city, while a narrator recounts, without emotion, the horrors that took place in that spot when the Netherlands suffered one of the highest rates of Jewish deaths in Europe.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Much of the documentary, ‘Occupied City’, was filmed during the Covid lockdown, and images of boarded-up stores, an announcement of a curfew, and protests, at times play as a backdrop to the World War II narration.

    The disconnect between the past and the present is purposeful.

    “It’s about living with ghosts and about the past and the present sort of merging,” McQueen told Variety magazine.

    However, the lengthy museum-installation-style documentary had several audience members nodding off. More than two dozen left before the 15-minute intermission, with others not returning for the second half.

    Some critics gushed over the monumental project and its novel approach, with Deadline calling it one of the “great WWII-themed films,” while others slammed it as “numbing.”

    “The film is a trial to sit through, and you feel that from almost the opening moments,” said Variety.

    “It’s more like listening to 150 encyclopedia entries in a row. Who did McQueen think he was making this movie for? If it plays in theatres, it seems all but designed to provoke walk-outs.”

    “Occupied City” is inspired by a book written by McQueen’s historian partner Bianca Stigter:  “Atlas of an Occupied City (Amsterdam 1940-1945).”

    McQueen shot 36 hours of film for the project over three years.

    “It wasn’t a case of wanting to do something long,” McQueen said in an interview with IndieWire. “It was a case of wanting to do something right.”

    “As much as it is about the past, this film is extremely about the present,” McQueen said.

    “Unfortunately, we never seem to learn from the past. Things sort of overtake us,” he said, referring to the rise of the far-right in modern times.

  • Saoirse Ronan cast in director Steve McQueen’s upcoming war drama ‘Blitz’

    By Express News Service

    Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan has reportedly been cast in director Steve McQueen’s upcoming film Blitz. Steve McQueen is known for films like Shame and 12 Years a Slave for which he won an Academy Award.

    The director will also write and produce the film, the rights for which are bought by Apple’s streaming platform Apple TV+. The story will reportedly follow the plight of Londoners during the World War II Blitz attacks conducted by the German forces. 

    Even though production is yet to begin on the film, there is already strong awards buzz around the film. The filming is set to take place later this year but the makers are tight-lipped about the release plans for the film. 

    Saoirse Ronan is currently filming for the feature-length adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s novel The Outrun. She will next be seen in Tom George’s See How They Run.

    Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan has reportedly been cast in director Steve McQueen’s upcoming film Blitz. Steve McQueen is known for films like Shame and 12 Years a Slave for which he won an Academy Award.

    The director will also write and produce the film, the rights for which are bought by Apple’s streaming platform Apple TV+. The story will reportedly follow the plight of Londoners during the World War II Blitz attacks conducted by the German forces. 

    Even though production is yet to begin on the film, there is already strong awards buzz around the film. The filming is set to take place later this year but the makers are tight-lipped about the release plans for the film. 

    Saoirse Ronan is currently filming for the feature-length adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s novel The Outrun. She will next be seen in Tom George’s See How They Run.

  • Filmmaker Steve McQueen honoured with Royal Knighthood

    By ANI

    LONDON: Oscar-winning British director Steve McQueen received his knighthood on Tuesday at Windsor Castle and will now be known in the UK as Sir Steve McQueen.

    According to Variety, with Queen Elizabeth II growing increasingly frail, her daughter Princess Anne had to step in to present McQueen with the honour. The famed director had reportedly attended the ceremony with his mother, Mary.

    McQueen, who became the first Black filmmaker to win an Oscar for best picture with ’12 Years a Slave’, also won a BAFTA and Golden Globe for the film.

    At the end of 2020, he had released the ambitious five-part film series ‘Small Axe’, which follows several West Indian immigrants as they navigate life in London between the 1960s and 1980s.

    As per Variety, his next project, a feature called ‘Blitz’, is set to go into production this year with New Regency. McQueen’s production company Lammas Park will produce alongside Working Title Films. 

  • Steve McQueen to direct thriller ‘Blitz’ for New Regency

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Filmmaker Steve McQueen has found his next directorial project in thriller “Blitz”.

    The movie has been set up at Hollywood studio New Regency and will start production in 2022, reported Variety.

    McQueen and New Regency previously partnered on his Oscar-winning feature “12 Years a Slave” and “Widows”.

    “Blitz” is based on an original idea from McQueen, who will also write and produce in addition to directing.

    However, the plot details have been kept under wraps at the moment.

    “The team at New Regency have been wonderful partners to me over the years. I’m thrilled to work with Arnon, Yariv, and Michael again and very excited to join forces with Tim and Eric at Working Title Films,” the filmmaker said.

    McQueen’s production company Lammas Park will produce the project alongside Working Title Films.

    The filmmaker most recently directed, wrote, and produced “Small Axe”, a critically acclaimed five-part anthology series for released on streamer Prime Video in 2020.

    McQueen also co-directed and produced BBC-Amazon documentaries “Black Power: A British Story of Resistance”, “Subnormal: A British Scandal” and “Uprising”.

  • Steve McQueen to direct documentary series Uprising

    By Express News Service
    Steve McQueen, who recently directed the acclaimed British anthology film series Small Axe for BBC, will once again team up with the network to direct a documentary series titled Uprising. Billed as a three-part docuseries, Uprising will follow three seminal events of 1981 which redefined race relations in the UK.

    Interestingly, two of these events — the gathering of 20,000 people on Black People’s Day of Action and the Brixton riots that occurred the following month — acted as building blocks for the Alex Wheatle segment in Small Axe. It is expected that Uprising will take a deeper look at these events that influenced race relations in the UK.

    Filmmaker James Rogan, known for helming the BBC documentary mini-series Stephen: The Murder that Changed a Nation, will be co-directing Uprising. Rogan and McQueen have previously served as executive producers on BBC’s Black Power and Subnormal.