The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Flagstaff premiere of “Queen of the Desert” — by Oscar-nominee Werner Herzog and starring Academy Award-winner Nicole Kidman — on Wednesday, April 12 as part of the festival’s monthly Flagstaff Cinema Series. There will be one screening of the film at 7:00 p.m. at Harkins Flagstaff 16 Theatres.
Nicole Kidman and director Werner Herzog bring to life the extraordinary true story of a trailblazing woman who found freedom in the faraway world of the Middle East.
Gertrude Bell (Kidman) chafes against the stifling rigidity of life in turn-of-the-century England, leaving it behind for a chance to travel to Tehran. So begins her lifelong adventure across the Arab world, a journey marked by danger, a passionate affair with a British officer (James Franco), and an encounter with the legendary T.E. Lawrence (Robert Pattinson).
Stunningly shot on location in Morocco and Jordan, “Queen of the Desert” reveals how an ahead-of-her-time woman shaped the course of history.
Kidman’s interest in exploration mirrors Gertrude Bell’s own adventurous spirit. While Kidman admires Bell greatly, she also shares her insight of why Bell pursued travelling and adventure, “She went off and lived a life that I would only dream of living. What she did is amazing, but she did it through motivations that, I believe, come from huge loss so that’s fascinating in itself, too. And the landscape and what the desert gave her was her salvation”.
As Kidman discovered that while Bell was a true trailblazer in a time when women were not treated as equals, especially in politics, she also had ambiguous aspects. “There’s an interesting fact about Gertrude though, is that she was not a supporter of the suffragette movement, so that was fascinating”, says Kidman. Her extensive research of Bell enables her to bring a realistic and nuanced performance to this legendary character.
A representative from the NAU Philosophy Department and Philosophy in the Public Interest will lead a discussion following the film screening.