Steve McQueen merges past and present Amsterdam in ‘Occupied City’ trailer

Steve McQueen’s lauded documentary Occupied City promises to connect the past and the present with what A24 describes as “an expansive meditation on memory, time, and where we’re headed.”

Based on research by historian and McQueen’s partner Bianca Stigter in her deeply detailed book Atlas of an Occupied City (Amsterdam 1940-1945), the film portrays parallel portraits of life in Amsterdam during two time periods: one of the Nazi occupation of the city in 1940, and one of the city in the present, through the COVID pandemic in 2020, as well as moments of protest against systemic racism, inaction on climate change, and demanding change.

Made over three years, the four-hour film travels through Amsterdam, seeing the documentary team literally knocking on doors to hear people’s stories, piecing together the city’s modern history and political present.

How to watch: Occupied City is in cinemas Dec. 25.