New Documentary ‘The Princess’ Immerses Audiences in Diana’s Story

Director Ed Perkins attends the screening of the film "The Princess", in London, Monday, June 27, 2022. (AP)
Director Ed Perkins attends the screening of the film "The Princess", in London, Monday, June 27, 2022. (AP)
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New Documentary ‘The Princess’ Immerses Audiences in Diana’s Story

Director Ed Perkins attends the screening of the film "The Princess", in London, Monday, June 27, 2022. (AP)
Director Ed Perkins attends the screening of the film "The Princess", in London, Monday, June 27, 2022. (AP)

Oscar-nominated director Ed Perkins trawled through hundreds of hours of footage of Princess Diana in search of moments he hoped would offer new perspective on her life and public image, 25 years after her death.

His new film "The Princess" relies entirely on archive video to trace Diana’s life from a timid teen to her death on Aug. 31, 1997, aged 36, and the unprecedented scenes of mourning that ensued.

In eschewing interviews and retrospective analysis traditionally used as the narrative tool in documentaries, Perkins said he hoped to explore the complicated relationship between Diana, the media and the public and elicit an emotional response from audiences.

"Our hope was to use the archive as a kind of time machine to take audiences back into our collective pasts and allow them to relive the story," he told Reuters.

Perkins, who was 11 when Diana died and remembers the confusion he felt over the outpouring of emotion, said he hoped his style of filmmaking would encourage audiences to reanalyze their own relationship with the princess.

"The thing that's most interesting for me is what was our role in this? What was our active role in the story? What was our complicity?" said Perkins, who earned a 2019 Oscar nomination for the documentary short "Black Sheep."

"The part of the Diana story of this puzzle that I felt was less explored and more interesting for me was, what does Diana's story say about all of us? And so that's the whole approach here, to kind of immerse audiences in this present tense unfolding, to never let you escape from the archive, to take you back into these moments in all our lives."

Diana had just turned 20 when she married Charles in 1981 and became the subject of global admiration and scrutiny. The collapse of their marriage, which she blamed on Charles' lover and future wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, only fueled media and public interest in Diana, who died when a limousine in which she was riding crashed in a Parisian tunnel as she fled the paparazzi.

"The Princess" will be released in theaters in Britain on June 30.



Tom Cruise Is Finally Getting an Oscar as Will Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen and Wynn Thomas 

Tom Cruise appears at the premiere of "Top Gun: Maverick" at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France on May 18, 2022. (AP) 
Tom Cruise appears at the premiere of "Top Gun: Maverick" at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France on May 18, 2022. (AP) 
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Tom Cruise Is Finally Getting an Oscar as Will Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen and Wynn Thomas 

Tom Cruise appears at the premiere of "Top Gun: Maverick" at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France on May 18, 2022. (AP) 
Tom Cruise appears at the premiere of "Top Gun: Maverick" at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France on May 18, 2022. (AP) 

Twenty-five years after Tom Cruise received his first Oscar nomination, he’s finally getting a trophy. It’s not for his death-defying stunts, either. At least, not exclusively.

Cruise, choreographer Debbie Allen and “Do The Right Thing” production designer Wynn Thomas have all been selected to receive honorary Oscar statuettes at the annual Governors Awards, the film academy said Tuesday. Dolly Parton will also be recognized with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her decades-long charitable work in literacy and education.

“This year’s Governors Awards will celebrate four legendary individuals whose extraordinary careers and commitment to our filmmaking community continue to leave a lasting impact,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement.

Most recipients of the prize historically have not yet won a competitive Oscar themselves. Cruise, 62, has been nominated four times, twice for best actor in “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Jerry Maguire,” once for supporting actor in “Magnolia” and once for best picture with “Top Gun: Maverick.” He’s also championed theatrical moviegoing and big-scale Hollywood production through the coronavirus pandemic.

Yang spotlighted Cruise’s “incredible commitment to our filmmaking community, to the theatrical experience, and to the stunts community.”

Allen, 75, has never been nominated for an Oscar. But the multi-hyphenate entertainer — she also acts and produces — has played an integral role in the Oscars show, having choreographed seven ceremonies over the years. Four of those were nominated for prime-time Emmy awards.

A nomination had also eluded Thomas, a leading production designer whose films have often gone on to best picture nominations and even one win, for Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind.” Thomas is most known for his long-term collaboration with filmmaker Spike Lee, from “She’s Gotta Have It” and “Malcolm X” through “Da 5 Bloods.”

Parton has been nominated twice for best original song, for “9 to 5” and, in 2006, “Travelin’ Thru” from the film “Transamerica.” But her honor celebrates her humanitarian efforts over the years, through organizations like the Dollywood Foundation and the literary program “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.”

Yang said Parton “exemplifies the spirit” of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The awards will be handed out during an untelevised ceremony on Nov. 16 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles. Last year’s recipients included the late Quincy Jones, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, filmmaker Richard Curtis and casting director Juliet Taylor.

Recipients of the prizes, which honor lifetime achievement, contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences and service to the academy are selected by the film academy’s board of governors.