 (Monterrey, Mexico) With excitement building throughout the halls of the Centermex Conference Center during the Universal Forum of Cultures, "RUMI RETURNING" premiered on September 23 to an overflow crowd representing dozens of religions and cultures from around the world. Hearing simultaneous translation into Spanish, the local and global community witnessed for the first time the exquisite HD beauty of the music and dance of the Whirling Dervishes the Sufi mystic Rumi inspired 800 years ago. They watched unfold the poignant story of a Muslim child who fled his birthplace in Afghanistan as a refugee of war to become one of the planet's great voices for universal love and tolerance of all peoples and paths.
After exuberant applause, Co-producers Kell and Cynthia joined featured onscreen commentator Ambassador Akbar Ahmed for a dialogue with the audience about how to extend Rumi's message throughout our world. They received kudos and gratitude for giving "RUMI RETURNING" as a "gift to humanity."
Hailed by the BBC as "the world's leading authority on contemporary Islam," Ambassador Ahmed later delivered the keynote address to the conference. He enfolded the ending of "RUMI RETURNING" into his speech. While audience members in the Monterrey Arena viewed the conclusion of this new film biography of the best-selling poet in the United States projected onto six gargantuan screens, they glimpsed the locations of Rumi's life. There was his shrine's famed turquoise dome, his rose-colored tomb, and the grandeur of Turkey's mosques, Byzantine churches, and Greco-Roman ruins. The hushed audience heard Dr. Ahmed share why this line from Rumi should be our world's motto after 9-11: "I go to the synagogue, I go to the church, I go to the mosque, and I see the same altar, and I feel the same spirit." Dr. Ahmed left no one with any doubt why UNESCO is honoring Rumi's 800th birthday in 2007… (Read the Press Release by the government of Nuevo Leo'n.)
We cannot imagine a more perfect venue than this was for our global premiere! As one of the largest interfaith organizations in the world, the motto of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions is "Embracing Diversity, Transforming the World."
"The mission of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions is to cultivate harmony among the world's religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its other guiding institutions in order to achieve a peaceful, just, and sustainable world." To learn more, see www.cpwr.org |
