Bianca stigter and steve mcqueen

It just means a void of manipulation. So I was very happy about that. It is not a voice of authority, the voice of God they call it sometimes in documentaries — that knows everything and is going to tell us. She is with the viewer on a journey of discovery and she just happens to be one step in front of you. Huck: And that was important because you wanted the viewer to engage with the information in a more active way?

Steve: Yes the responsibility was put on your lap. To be given that responsibility. Then you feel like you have a stake in it as well. And our job — my job — is to do something better. Cinema is years old. So what can be done? How can you do it? It must have been harder to avoid that than not? To be frank.

Bianca stigter and steve mcqueen: In a deeply personal conversation

Put that down. Because the subject deserves it. Not because of ego. The subject is telling us what it needs, what it wants, what its standards are. And we have to reach those standards. So therefore we have to rise to the occasion. Huck : I wanted to ask about the book. You said Bianca that there werepeople living in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation so there werestories.

At what point did you know it was time to publish and put the book out? Bianca: When the deadline was set. And the publishers said now you really have to put it out. More interesting addresses that come to light after the book was published. Steve: But how can you not keep on thinking about it? The film is narrated by Helena Bonham Carter.

I felt this tremendous sense of responsibility to their memory. Stigter is the writer for the documentary Occupied Citywhich focuses on the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam from to The film is based on her illustrated history book, Atlas of an Occupied City, Amsterdam This article about a Dutch film director is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. You're trying to create meaning in what you see.

Bianca stigter and steve mcqueen: Bianca Stigter and her husband Steve

In this case, the more you know, the less you know. How do you make sense of 6 million people being murdered? Well, you can't. Stigter: We would never replicate this. Sometimes, the actual building where something happened was being discussed was demolished during or after the war. In that case, we would film it in the new building standing at that exact location.

McQueen: Obviously, what's happening in those locations is not necessarily what happened in A person playing guitar is not someone trying to make counterfeit passports. But again, it was about experimenting, taking risks, and taking chances, because this has never been done like this before. But for me, it was screaming to be done. My involvement was trying to do the right thing with the text.

When you approached these people in these locations in the modern day and explained what you were doing, did they understand the concept and want to be part of it? McQueen: Of course. Most of the time, in cities, people are a bit gruff, and they're not opening doors to their private locations, but the doors were flung open when we spoke to them about what we were trying to do and how we were trying to do it.

It was because of the Second World War. Ninety-five percent of the locations were so welcoming, from workplaces to homes. It was incredible, but it was because of the subject matter. From a practical and technical point of view, what did it look like when you were filming? McQueen: What was so beautiful was that we were shooting on 35mm film.

It was shooting without a tightrope, in a way. Young people today shoot digitally; they spray the whole area, shooting for 60 hours and cutting it down to half an hour. You can't do that with film. The process of making a film and working with Lennert Hillege, the DP, the sound people, and others, it was a beautiful ritual every time we took the camera.

I think that was extremely helpful in capturing things, because everyone was very focused. Stigter: One of the unique things for me when I watched the film is that even when something not very obviously exciting or interesting is happening, they still manage to make it into something meaningful. That's a very unique ability where you can do that.

McQueen: I suppose what we were trying to do was almost sprinkling flour on these ghosts, on these histories, and illuminating them in the frame so even when you saw something of the present, you saw the past there too.

Bianca stigter and steve mcqueen: Occupied City is a

McQueen: It's actually funny how I discovered his music. I was walking in a clothing store when it came on the speakers, and I said, 'Who is this? What is this? Is he living or dead? Running time. United Kingdom [ 3 ] [ 8 ] Netherlands [ 3 ] [ 8 ] United States [ 3 ] [ 8 ]. Production [ edit ]. Release [ edit ]. Reception [ edit ].

Critical response [ edit ]. Accolades [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 9 May Retrieved 21 May Fonk Magazine. Screen Daily. Retrieved 31 October