Located in Indigo Bay on the Dutch side of St. Maarten, Vie L’Ven is a collection of 280-units which will include fully furnished residences and a five-star resort that are architecturally designed with both the island’s Dutch and French influences.
15.02.2024 - 16:53 / forbes.com
Oscar-winning filmmaker and artist Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave, Shame, Hunger) shows us in his engrossing new documentary, Occupied City, how the not so distant past events of the second world war still haunt present day Amsterdam. His film, made with his historian wife, Bianca Stigter, evokes the ghosts of the past, felt everywhere in the city, inside buildings where often harrowing things happened but the film also leaves us with the positive reminder that “the Nazis didn’t win.”
This film is meant to be an immersive experience not a history lesson and yet it is satisfyingly both. While we should “embrace the madness of today” by seeing modern day Amsterdam in the streets, buildings and rooms McQueen has chosen to film, we learn about the wartime history of each of the places from narrator Melanie Hyams, a young British Jew also living in the Netherlands
The Germans occupied Amsterdam from May 1940 until May 1945, transforming the city into one of oppression, fear and deprivation. The stories in the film are drawn from the book, Atlas of an Occupied City: Amsterdam 1940-1945 by Steve McQueen’s Dutch wife, Bianca Stigter, and in fact the pair visited and filmed over 2,000 addresses from which 130 were chosen for the film. No archival footage was used and no interviews were conducted. The viewer sees present day images while the texts describe the past, offering a sense of where the Germans were in the city, where the holocaust was organised, where the resistance gathered and where people hid. Sometimes the film footage shows current events or scenes that eerily echo the past; at other times there is no obvious connection.
Bianca Stitger wanted to investigate and document addresses throughout Amsterdam because she realised that many people aren’t aware of what actually happened in certain buildings. Where today’s ordinary activities take place: children playing, people gathering in parks, skating and swimming, diabolical events often happened, only 80 years ago. For Steve McQueen, discovering that Gerrit van der Veen College, his daughter’s former school was once a place of interrogation, a Nazi torture chamber, was one powerful reason that he decided to make this film.
The emotional power of these stories accumulates over the course of the film, as the narrator calmly recounts the mechanics of both systematic oppression and sudden bravery; both calculated terror and life-saving luck; both ordinary and extraordinary ways of surviving. At the same time, the film’s captivating imagery is entirely of our times, persistently moving forward. The scenes of ordinary activities of daily life sometimes connect with the stories. It is also a highly personal journey, as we weave in and out of houses and
Located in Indigo Bay on the Dutch side of St. Maarten, Vie L’Ven is a collection of 280-units which will include fully furnished residences and a five-star resort that are architecturally designed with both the island’s Dutch and French influences.
Tourists and residents alike can take advantage of the many cruises that depart from New York City, offering easy access to warm weather getaways, family vacations, expeditions, and more. After all, nothing screams adventure like sailing away from the Big Apple with the Statue of Liberty and iconic city skyline in your wake.
France was the most visited country in the world in 2023. Its capital, Paris, sits comfortably at the top of the league table of most desirable places to visit – a position that will only be strengthened when the city hosts the 2024 Olympics this summer. But away from tourist magnets such as the Eiffel Tower, Disneyland Paris and the teeming beaches of the Cote d’Azur, there are still plenty of places where you can experience “la France profonde”.
The last day to apply is today, February 26, 2024.
WeTravel and ITCA lead a discussion on fostering mutual respect, economic empowerment, and sustainable partnerships with Indigenous communities.
ALTOUR will be the first Atriis client to go live in March. The content will become widely available to all Atriis users during Q2 2024.
The airline has also relaunched its route from Newcastle to Amsterdam for next summer.
Located in the heart of the Aegean Sea, the picturesque island of Paros has recently captured the hearts of travellers worldwide, thanks to its starring role in the smash hit Netflix drama One Day.
In the spring of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the always bustling Dam Square in Amsterdam was deserted, silent and surrounded by concrete counterterrorism blocks. The Dutch street artist Frank de Ruwe, who goes by the name of Frankey, decided these daunting studded blocks resembled something more innocent — giant Lego blocks — and that the city needed something to lighten the gloom.
A holiday is always a good day to market travel deals. But what about a holiday that comes not ‘but once a year’ like Christmas, but just once every four years?
With cobblestone lanes wrapped around arched bridges and canals, Amsterdam makes for a charming vacation at any time of year.
Traveling by train in Europe is as easy as pie. You can go across France in half a day, you can get from London to Amsterdam in just four hours, or even travel between Austria and Hungary for less than $10. Even in Scandinavia, the rail network is extensive, providing rail transport to and from large cities, small towns, neighboring countries, and even in the far reaches of the Arctic.