The very highly anticipated Queen of the Desert directed by celebrated director Werner Herzog and starring Nicole Kidman, Damian Lewis, James Franco and Robert Pattinson will have its world premiere at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival that will take place February 5-15, 2015. The movie has also been selected for the Competition program of the festival and here is the festival Press Release.
Queen of the Desert is a biopic of Gertrude Bell, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, political attaché and a spy for the British Empire in the Middle East in the early 20th century. She shaped the politics of the Middle East and drew up the borders of modern Jordan as well as Iraq. Think of more or less a female Lawrence of Arabia.
Nicole Kidman stars as Gertrude Bell in Queen of the Desert along with Damian Lewis as Lieutenant Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie, James Franco as Henry Cadogan, and Robert Pattinson as Lawrence of Arabia.
Damian Lewis was on Conan O’Brien in early 2014 just after he left Homeland and he talked about his next project, Queen of the Desert. Watch it, it’s hilarious!
Damian Lewis’ character, Charles Doughty-Wylie, was an officer in the British Army, and is considered to be the love of Gertrude Bell’s life. Doughty-Wylie was married, he and Gertrude Bell had an unconsummated relationship and exchanged love letters between 1913-15 until his death.
Here is the real Charles Doughty-Wylie.
And, here is Damian Lewis as Charles Doughty-Wylie from the Queen of the Desert set complete with his Edwardian moustache and probably his Factor 50 🙂
