Queen of the Desert. Genre: Drama, Adventure, History. Director: Werner Herzog. Cast: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis, Jay Abdo. Release Date: 2015-09-03. Runtime: 128 minutes. Rating: 5.9/10. A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire in the Near and Middle East at the dawn of the twentieth century. Her knowledge of the tribal leaders is used by the British to establish the Kingdoms of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.