The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will present a 34-hour version of Steve McQueen’s film Occupied City, opening on Thursday 11 September.

Filmed between 2020 and 2023, in Occupied City McQueen creates two interlocking portraits: a door-to-door excavation of the Nazi occupation that still haunts the city today, and a vivid journey through years of pandemic and protest.

One version of the work will be shown continuously on the south façade of the museum from 11 September 2025 to 25 January 2026. In the auditorium of the Rijksmuseum a version of the film with sound and voice-over will be shown. The film covers more than 2000 addresses and is based on Atlas of an Occupied City. Amsterdam 1940-1945, by the historian and filmmaker Bianca Stigter. The presentation coincides with Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary and the commemoration of 80 years of liberation.

Steve McQueen
Occupied City
South façade of the Rijksmuseum

11 September 2025–25 January 2026

On selected dates, from Friday 12 September, the film will also be shown with sound in the Rijksmuseum’s auditorium between 9am and 5pm, with an English voice-over and Dutch subtitles.

Rijksmuseum
Museumstraat 1
Amsterdam