A special screening at Bath’s Little Theatre cinema of a major new documentary film by British director, Steve McQueen.
“Occupied City” is being shown on Sunday 25 February, in an event hosted by the Bath-Alkmaar Twinning Association.
The movie, based on a photo book by McQueen’s Dutch wife, Bianca Stigter, tells a meditative tale of what happened during occupation at locations across the Dutch capital, while showing the same places now.
The event is currently the only scheduled public screening of this internationally important film in the West of England, after it was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last May.
While not exclusively about the impact on the Dutch Jewish community, the film has a focus on the devastating impact of the Nazi occupation, creating an unsettling, powerful reminder of how close these events remain to the present day.
Twinning Association Chairman, Chris Davies, said: “Bath’s link with Alkmaar goes back to the War, when a young Jewish man, Elias Prins, escaped from his home in the Dutch city and came to live in Bath. He made many friends here, resulting in Bath officially adopting his city and helping with its recovery after the War was over. Over the eight decades since then, thousands of residents from the two cities have visited each other, keeping alive the memory of friendship and solidarity forged during the darkest days of the last century.”
Tragically, Eli Prins’ family members who remained in Alkmaar did not survive the Holocaust. They, alongside all the Jews in Alkmaar, were forced from their homes into the Amsterdam Jewish ghetto, before being transported to the Nazi death camps.
Chris added: “We in Bath have a special connection to this story. We are grateful to The Little Theatre for working with us to put on this special public screening of such an important film.”
Tickets are still available from The Little Theatre for the sole screening on Sunday 25th February, which is taking place in Screen 1 on the ground floor, starting at 2.00pm, finishing at approximately 6.30pm, including an interval.
