Cannes 2023: Steve McQueen’s ‘Occupied City’ Doc Is 4 Hours Long & Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ Invited To Join In Competition

Next month will see the Cannes Film Festival return and give us early glimpses of high-profile/awards-caliber films ahead of their official releases, and many will be premiered at the event. With that in mind, there are some interesting tidbits in a recent Screen Daily interview with Thierry Fremaux, the festival’s delegate general.

READ MORE: Cannes Makes New Record As Alice Rohrwacher, Jessica Hausner & Catherine Breillat Are Among 6 Female Directors In Competition

During that chat, Fremaux revealed that Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen’s (“12 Years A Slave,” “Widows”) upcoming film “Occupied City” has a hefty runtime of four hours. “Occupied City” is based on the illustrated history book “Atlas of an Occupied City, Amsterdam 1940-1945,” written by author and filmmaker Bianca Stigter (McQueen’s wife). With a $5M+ budget, it isn’t your average European doc.

The book uncovers traces of World War II in Amsterdam, guiding the reader through the once-occupied Netherlands capital. The Netherlands Film Fund previously said of the project: “Living in Amsterdam is like living with spirits. It looks like there are two parallel worlds. The past is always present.” On a per capita basis, the Netherlands had the most people hiding from occupying forces during the war. Among those seeking refuge in Amsterdam at the time were Anne Frank and Audrey Hepburn.

“For example, Steve McQueen’s film is four hours long,” Fremaux revealed. “All the films we show are singular works of art.”

Another interesting tidbit of note is an open invitation for Apple to enter Martin Scorsese’s crime thriller “Killers of The Flower Moon” being added to the In Competition lineup. Although, it’s unknown if that will ultimately will happen as the filmmaker could allow those other films to get attention by keeping his film outside of Competition.

“I extended the option for it to be in Competition. I invited Marty’s film to premiere out of Competition since it was a film for a platform that was already fantastic. Then Apple said that they would release the film in theatres, which was also fantastic,” he explained. “So I said, well, in that case, you are welcome in Competition, and now we’ll see what their response is. I’ll respect the decision of Martin Scorsese and of Apple.”

The “Killers Of The Flower Moon” cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Robert De Niro, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, Janae Collins, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, John Lithgow, and others. ‘Flower Moon’ has been one of those long-gestating movies for Scorsese that nearly didn’t get made and features a solid group of Indigenous actors selected by the same team that helped cast “Prey” for director Dan Trachtenberg, so there have been years of anticipation for it.

Cannes kicks off on May 16, and stay tuned for The Playlist’s film festival coverage.