Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA-winning team making first ever archive-only cinema documentary on the extraordinary life of Diana, the Princess of Wales
And they need your help!
The life of Diana Frances Spencer is one of the iconic stories of our time. Twenty-five years after her death Lightbox have the opportunity to tell her story as it has never been told before and to create a landmark theatrical documentary which, they hope, will come to be seen as one of the defining records of her life and the era she lived through.
Told exclusively through archive material, the film will be a highly immersive narrative of Diana’s life, from her birth to her tragic death, which will be experienced by audiences as if the story were unfolding in the present. As much as Lightbox are interested in the particulars of Diana’s story, however, they are equally interested in the way she was influenced by the era she lived through, how she impacted those events herself and the public’s response to her.
As with all their films, this story will be told with the care and respect that the subject deserves. Lightbox wants to pay tribute to Diana’s life, and create a profound and cinematic film that will feel fresh and relevant to a contemporary audience looking back on these events.
How You Can Help
If you know anyone that might have footage of Diana, even in the most fleeting of moments, or that might have filmed the 1981 Wedding Day Celebrations or the 1997 Funeral then please spread the word and get in touch.
Find out how you can be part of this collaborative project by contacting Sheena: sheena@legacymagazines.co.uk
From the Academy Award®- and Emmy-winning producers of MAN ON WIRE, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN and LA 92, and the Academy Award®-nominated director of BLACK SHEEP and TELL ME WHO I AM.
Our aim is to tell the story of the Princess of Wales in a way that’s never been done before, exclusively through archive footage, as if the story was unfolding in the present. As part of that we very much want to reflect the experience of people across the country who came into contact with her and managed to capture that moment on film. Diana famously said she wanted to be seen as “the Queen of people’s hearts” and it was her ability to connect with people – and reach them emotionally – even in the most fleeting of interactions that made her special and this is a huge part of the story that we want to tell. In addition, if anybody has footage of the wedding day celebrations on the 29th July 1981, such as the street parties that took place up and down the country, or if anyone might have filmed the week leading up to Diana’s funeral in 1997, we would be grateful for them to get in touch, as this type of home movie footage will allow us to re-tell these two historic events through the eyes of the public.
– Simon Chinn, (Producer, Diana / co-founder, Lightbox)
ABOUT LIGHTBOX
Headquartered in London and Los Angeles, Lightbox is a multi-platform media company creating high quality non-fiction content for an array of distribution platforms. It was founded by two-time Academy Award®-winning producer Simon Chinn (MAN ON WIRE, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN) and two-time Emmy® Award-winning producer Jonathan Chinn (LA 92, AMERICAN HIGH). Lightbox’s recent productions include WHITNEY, a major theatrical feature documentary directed by Academy Award® winner Kevin Macdonald, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival; Netflix feature documentary TELL ME WHO I AM, which premiered to critical acclaim at Telluride and the London Film Festival; Academy Award®-nominated BLACK SHEEP; UNTOUCHABLE, a theatrical documentary on the Weinstein scandal which premiered at Sundance 2019 and aired on BBC2 and Hulu; high-profile Netflix hit series MURDER MOUNTAIN and DIAGNOSIS, an innovative Netflix Original eight-part documentary series produced in partnership with Scott Rudin Productions and The New York Times. The company is set to release its new feature documentary, TINA. This will be the first major documentary to be made with the full participation of Tina Turner and is directed by Academy® and Emmy® Award winners Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin. Lightbox is also in production on an array of other feature documentaries and limited series for Netflix, FX, BBC, Showtime and HBO.
Our intention is to make an insightful, intelligent and thoughtful film that will pay tribute to Diana’s life, as well as the world which shaped it and which she helped to shape. We will approach this story, as we do with all the films we undertake, with the sensitivity, compassion and respect that it deserves.
– Ed Perkins, (Director, Diana)
ABOUT ED PERKINS
Ed Perkins is an Academy Award®-nominated documentary filmmaker whose films have won numerous international awards. Ed has directed films for Netflix, the BBC, The Guardian, National Geographic and Channel 4 and was named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit in 2015. In 2009, Ed directed the behind-the-scenes documentaries for PROJECT NIM, THE EAGLE, the BAFTA-winning THE IMPOSTER, and the Academy Award®-winning SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN. In 2015 Ed made his first feature documentary GARNET’S GOLD, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2014, and won a Grierson Award for Best Newcomer as well as Best International Documentary awards at Docville and Jozi Film Festival. Ed then went on to make BARE KNUCKLE FIGHT CLUB for Channel 4 and FX Studios, of which The Times said, “You will not have seen a better documentary this year.” He has also made a number of short films, including IF I DIE ON MARS, which has had more than 1,000,000 views over multiple platforms. In 2018 Ed directed BLACK SHEEP, a documentary short for The Guardian, which won 13 international awards and was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 91st Academy Awards. Ed’s latest film – TELL ME WHO I AM – is a Netflix Original feature documentary and has recently been nominated for a British Independent Film Award.
