THE NEW RIJKSMUSEUM Documentary to Hit LA Cinemas, 6/19

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.

The New Rijksmusuem (2014 documentary) will hit theaters in Los Angeles on June 16, 2015, with a national roll-out to follow. The film is in Dutch, English, French, and Spanish w/ English Subtitles. 131 minutes, Digital.

Watch the trailer below!

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