Steve McQueen’s World War II drama starring Saoirse Ronan, “Blitz,” will close the 62nd New York Film Festival, Film at Lincoln Center announced on Thursday. The movie will screen on October 10 at Alice Tully Hall in Manhattan, which will mark its North American premiere.
“Blitz,” which McQueen wrote, directed and produced, stars Ronan as a working-class single mother living in London during Nazi Germany’s 1941 blitzkrieg that began on September 7 and continued for 57 consecutive days and nights, killing almost 1,500 people.
The film is told from the points of view of Ronan’s Rita and her 9-year-old son George (played by newcomer Elliott Heffernan), who become separated during the air raids. According to the description offered by the festival, the film “offers a multicultural portrait of 1940s London too infrequently seen on screens” and is “Dickensian in its scope and storytelling.”
The supporting cast includes Kathy Burke, Benjamin Clementine, Harris Dickinson, Stephen Graham, Hayley Squires, and Paul Weller. McQueen’s Lammas Park produced “Blitz” with Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films, along with Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer for New Regency and Anita Overland and Adam Somner.
“It is with immense pride, gratitude, and fondness that I’m able to return to the New York Film Festival with ‘Blitz,’” McQueen said in a statement. “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.”
“Blitz” is McQueen’s eighth film to screen at the New York Film Festival. His debut feature, “Hunger,” played there in 2008, followed by “Shame” in 2011, “12 Years a Slave” in 2013 and “Occupied City” in 2023. In 2020, three of the five works in his acclaimed “Small Axe” anthology screened at the 58th New York fest. (“12 Years a Slave” went on to win the Oscar and BAFTA for Best Picture.)
“’Blitz’ is a vivid and visceral depiction of life during wartime, a meticulous historical account that resonates unmistakably with our current age of endless war,” Dennis Lim, Artistic Director, New York Film Festival said, also via statement. “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.”
“Blitz” will premiere in theaters on November 1 before streaming on Apple TV+ on November 22.
