Audiences Enjoy British Film at Sundance

Carole Mikita Reporting The Sundance Film Festival attracts international entries, and one of them boasts an award-winning actor, director and screenwriter.

I talked with a Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominated writer of the hit film, "The Queen".

What really happened during the week between the death of Princess Diana and her funeral? The film, 'The Queen', takes audiences behind-the-scenes with the royal family and the government of newly-elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Oscar-nominated screenwriter, Peter Morgan, says for this story he concentrated on the details; he actually wrote it for a tiny audience.

Peter Morgan, Screenwriter, "The Queen": "I wanted that film to play to a dozen people who work in the palace who will know if it's right or wrong. And I wanted it to play to a dozen people who work in Downing Street who will know if that's the way it was. I didn't really concern myself beyond those imaginary 24 people."

This is why no one was more surprised at its immediate popularity than Morgan.

Peter Morgan, Screenwriter, "The Queen": "The first indication we got was at the Venice film festival. That was the first time we showed it to anybody, and we just had that shock that it was really, clearly working for an international audience."

At first, he says, people expected a rather somber piece about two British public figures.

Peter Morgan, Screenwriter, "The Queen": "I think they're so relieved, it's full of jokes. You know, the Queen is famously a good mimic, has a terrific sense of humor in that very clipped way."

"The Queen", Morgan says, was a joy to write. It brought him a Golden Globe, and he is an odds favorite for an Oscar. "The Queen" received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

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