Event-documentary Portrait of the Queen, to hit select cinemas for a limited time on March 18.

Portrait of the Queen, an event-documentary that looks at the moving, enthralling and controversial 70-year reign of late Queen Elizabeth II through the eyes of the world’s best photographers, will release to select Australian cinemas for a limited time on March 18.

The film, an original and intimate portrait that goes far beyond the dictates of standard conventional biographies, interweaves the story of the Queen’s life with the equally fascinating lives of the extraordinary photographers who accompanied – and often created – the image of British monarchy itself. Those who, through their work, established, conveyed, and spread the image of Her Majesty.

A special, careful look of the thousands upon thousands of images that have portrayed her, means that we can perhaps find a new way to approach a Queen we feel we have always known, but who has always seemed equally out-of-reach. Each portrait presented in this film, each conversation with the photographers involved in the project, all the accounts of experiences shared by actresses, designers, and British subjects, fit carefully and intricately into the screenplay like pieces of a mosaic that capture some of the multifaceted aspects of the Queen’s image, all different but connected, all equally powerful and significant.

Directed by award-winning photographer Fabrizio FerriPortrait of the Queen is based on the book, Elisabetta II: Ritratto di Regina by Paola Calvett. The documentary features legendary British actor Charles Dance (The CrownGame of Thrones), with contributions from Emma Blau, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Isabella RosselliniSusan Sarandon and the Queen’s photographers Brian Aris, Jason Bell, Julian Calder, Chris Levine, David MontgomeryJohn Swannell.