Filmmakers Tina Petrova and Stephen
Roloff present the New York premiere of RUMI – Turning
Ecstatic
Toronto: Friday, December 9, 2005
WHAT:Filmmakers Tina Petrova and Stephen
Roloff present the New York premiere of RUMI – Turning
Ecstatic
WHERE: The Lighthouse Theatre,
Manhattan (Lighthouse International Headquarters 111 East
59th St)
WHEN: December 9, 2005, at 7
pm
Produced in association with Vision TV, a
near-death experience in 1997 launches Tina Petrova onto
a journey involving the 13th century Sufi Mystic Rumi and forming
the basis of this film.
Six years ago, Tina Petrova drove off a cliff--both
literally and figuratively. She had spent the morning driving
to Buddhist chanting, at a monastery high in the mountains
of Southern California's desert. Along the way, she gave a
ride to a hitchhiker, an enigmatic woman standing beside a
deserted stretch of road. When Tina dropped the hitchhiker
off at her destination, she had offered a prophetic warning.
Driving up the mountain, the words echoed in Tina's mind as
her car hit a patch of black ice and started to skid: "don't
drive off the cliff today…"
This life-changing event launched Tina on the journey that
was to become the basis for this docudrama. In the midst of
an ongoing struggle with pain and despair, she was visited
by a phenomenal encounter with Rumi, a 13th-century Sufi mystic.
The incident opened up a path of healing and transformation
that lead Tina to a remarkable array of individuals whose lives
and work have been influenced by Rumi's philosophy, teachings
and poetry.
|
Mevlana Jellaludin Rumi, named by Time
Magazine as Mystic of the Century,
has outsold Shakespeare in the English language for ten years
running. His seminal "Mathnawi" is considered second
only to the Quran in many Middle Eastern countries. Ironically,
the profound central messages of Rumi's teaching resonate
powerfully with people of all faiths in today's troubled
times
Stephen Roloff's work as
a production designer, producer and writer covers the creation
of over 250 hours of filmed entertainment, working with clients
such as Alliance Atlantis, Paramount, Universal and IMAX.
Selected projects include the feature film Foolproof, Gene
Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict, A Child's Christmas
in Wales to name a few. His 12 award nominations
and wins include Emmy, Gemini, Ace, and Broadcast
Design Awards.
Tina Petrova has been part of the Canadian film,
television and stage scene for over 20 years, as an award winning
actress, a writer, producer and director. Her film debut The
Lost Years, produced with the assistance of the National
Film Board, garnered nationwide interest after
being honoured by the Golden Sheaf Awards. CBC
Radio is the exclusive distributor of her radio
documentary Rumi, spoken by Coleman Barks. |
