A SPECIAL screening of a new film about Lawrence of Arabia is to take place in Oxford.
The childhood home of TE Lawrence, 2 Polstead Road, went on the market last year with a guide price of £2.9m and remains unsold.
Journalist John Simpson and former MP Rory Stewart OBE said last year they wanted the north Oxford house to be transformed into a Lawrence of Arabia study centre.
The TE Lawrence Society has appealed against a Government decision not to give the house listed status and said it urgently needed protection.
Now Lawrence: After Arabia, a full-length feature film, will be released in May.
READ AGAIN: Study centre planned for Lawrence of Arabia home
The movie stars Brian Cox, Hugh Fraser, Michael Maloney, Nicole Ansari Cox and Tom Barber Duffy in the lead role.
It is expected to be the final act in the TE Lawrence movie story following David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962) with Peter O’Toole and A Dangerous Man (1996) with Ralph Fiennes.
The film, with a budget of less than £1m, was directed by Wolverhampton born Mark Griffin and was shot on location in Dorset and will be released 85 years after TE Lawrence’s death when new information regarding the accident may be made public.
READ MORE: Police bust cannabis factory
Mr Griffin said: “On retiring to his cottage in Dorset, TE Lawrence hopes to escape his past but is pulled into political intrigue.
"While Lawrence has powerful friends, he has made some dangerous enemies.
"As they plot against him he is involved in a motorcycle accident - with such enemies could it have been an assassination by the British Secret Service?
“The film has a strong following on social media on our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and especially in Dorset where Lawrence is still regarded as a local hero. On IMDB, it is currently trending at number one for release in 2020 with a budget of less than £1m and is an official selection for the Los Angeles Film Festival and Florence Film Awards."
A special screening of the full-length film telling the story of TE Lawrence’s last years and his mysterious death is scheduled at Oxford’s Ultimate Picture Palace on Wednesday, May 6.
READ MORE: Driver blames BMW garage for two near accidents
The special screening have been arranged in many of the towns and cities which TE Lawrence is connected with.
In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College from 1907 to 1910.
READ MORE: Schoolgirl to take legal action against council 'trans toolkit'
Mr Stewart, who has made a two-part documentary for the BBC on Lawrence and his legacy, and Mr Simpson want 2 Polstead Road to be transformed into a centre for Lawrence studies.
Visit uppcinema.com/film/lawrence-after-arabia.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here