Steve McQueen’s Blitz, starring Saoirse Ronan and Elliott Heffernan, will be the closing night selection of the 62nd New York Film Festival, making its North American premiere, said the fest’s parent Film At Lincoln Center.
The re-creation of London during its blitzkrieg by the Germans during World War II is told from the parallel perspectives of working-class single mother Rita (Ronan) and her 9-year-old son, George (newcomer Heffernan), who become separated within the labyrinth of a city under siege. Oscar-winner McQueen (12 Years a Slave), who also wrote and produced, offers an unusual multicultural portrait of 1940s London. Supporting cast includes Kathy Burke, Benjamin Clémentine, Harris Dickinson, Stephen Graham, Hayley Squires, and Paul Weller.
“It is with immense pride, gratitude, and fondness that I’m able to return to the New York Film Festival with Blitz,” said McQueen. “I’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed a number of memorable experiences at the festival and with New York audiences, and I’m enormously grateful to have been invited back for Closing Night.”
NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim called the film “a vivid and visceral depiction of life during wartime, a meticulous historical account that resonates unmistakably with our current age of endless war. We are thrilled to welcome back to the festival Steve McQueen, one of the most daring artists at work today, with one of the greatest achievements of his career.”
McQueen’s debut feature (and Cannes Camera D’Or winner) Hunger starring Michael Fassbender premiered at the festival in 2008. In 2020, three of the five works in his Small Axe anthology were featured in NYFF58, with Lovers Rock presented as the Opening Night selection, and Mangrove and Red, White and Blue shown in the Main Slate section. Blitz is McQueen’s eighth film in the festival with Shame, 12 Years a Slave, which dominated awards season, and, last year, Occupied City.
McQueen also co-directed and produced the BAFTA-winning three-part series Uprising (2021) and served as a co-producer on Three Minutes – A Lengthening (2021), directed and co-written by Bianca Stigter.
The recipient of many accolades for his work as a visual artist, McQueen was awarded with the Turner Prize in 1999, and represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2009. He has exhibited and held his artwork in major museums around the world.
Blitz is an Apple Original Film set to premiere in theaters November 1 ahead of its global premiere on Apple TV+ on November 22. It will world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival’s opening night on Oct. 9.
NYFF will run September 27–October 14. RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys will kick off the festival.
