FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contact: Kelly Hargraves
(323) 493-1548
kelly.hargraves@firstrunfeatures.com
 
THE NEW RIJKSMUSEUM
 
Opens at LAEMMLE THEATRES in Los Angeles on June 19
Additional Cities to Follow
 

(June 12, 2015) In 2003, the ambitious renovation of one of the world's greatest museums began. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, home to a glorious collection including masterpieces by Rembrandt and Vermeer, was supposed to reopen its doors in 2008 after five years of construction. But from the start, the project was opposed by unyielding bureaucrats and public resistance. The museum directors battled politicians, designers, curators and even the Dutch Cyclists Union as they struggled to complete the renovation and put its massive collection back on public display. Five years late, with costs exceeding half a billion dollars, the museum finally reopened.

Oeke Hoogendijk's epic documentary captures the entire story from design to completion, offering a fly-on-the-wall perspective on one of the most challenging museum construction projects ever conceived. With its decade-long scope, the film reveals a surprisingly dramatic story that art and architecture lovers will not want to miss.



The New Rijksmuseum is the most ambitious project to date for internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker Oeke Hoogendijk. Her first film, A Happy Time, is about the Barneveld group, a cohort of 700 Dutch Jews pardoned by the Nazis and sent to live in an isolated, peaceful community at the Schaffelaar Castle in Barneveld, Netherlands. A Happy Time was awarded the Dutch Academy Award 'Golden View' and 'Euro-Comenius' Award in Vienna. Her second documentary, The Holocaust Experience, premiered at IDFA in Amsterdam.
 
"★★★★ Proves that films can describe nuances of character and situation as finely as the finest novel or creative non-fiction" - RogerEbert.com

"Epic...Art lovers will find it edifying." - John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter

"Eye-opening." - A.O Scott, New York Times

"A unique, thrilling, and detailed document that is equally engrossing and informative... If you never thought you could scoot to the edge of your seat watching a film about an art museum, 'The New Rijksmusuem' will challenge that assumption." Landon Palmer, Film School Rejects

 
Watch the trailer >>
 
The New Rijksmusuem
2014, Documentary, Dutch, English, French, and Spanish w/ English Subtitles, 131 minutes, Digital
Directed by Oeke Hoogendijk
 
For press inquiries and materials contact:
kelly.hargraves@firstrunfeatures.com

Press kit, photos, and other press materials are available at
www.firstrunfeatures.com/newrijksmusuem_press.html


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