By: Marjan Abdi, PhD
One of the world’s prime
contributors of science and literature was with no doubt Omar Khayyam, the great
mathematician, astronomer and poet of 11th century. He is the author
of "The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam" and a proto-Renaissance man who placed reason
above faith. Recently an independent movie in name of ‘The Keeper, the legend of
Omar Khayyam’ www.greatomar.com was made
on this fascinating scholar.
*In this movie, Kamran is a 12-year-old
boy, in the present day, who discovers that his ancestor is the
11th-century Mathematician, Astronomer, Poet of Persia: Omar Khayyam.
The story has been passed down in his family from one generation to another, and
now it is his responsibility to keep the story alive for future generations. The
film takes us from the modern day to the epic past where the relationship
between Omar Khayyam, Hassan Sabbah (the original creator of the sect of
Assassins) and their mutual love for a beautiful woman separate them from their
eternal bond of friendship. Filmed almost entirely on location in
Samarkand and Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
Jane Robinson
The Keeper, www.greatomar.com is the winner of two
awards for the best director, Kayvan Mashayekh and best costume designer,
Jane Robinson at the 2nd Annual WAALM – Persian Golden Lioness
Awards® in Budapest in October 2006. www.waalm.com
Jane entered the Fashion Business and
designed for leading Fashion Houses in London until 1968. Later she joined Thames TV
and earned her first Emmy® Award for “Lady Randolph Churchill” in
1974.
Among her outstanding jobs as a Costume
Designer we can name movies such as: “Spartacus”; “Speechless” – casting: Geena
Davis & Michael Keaton; "The Specialist” – casting: Sylvester Stallone &
Sharon Stone”; “Anastasia” – casting: Omar Shariff & Amy Irving. And in theatre:
“The Seagull” – casting: Vanessa Redgrave & Natasha Richardson; as well as
“Veterans Day” – casting: Jack Lemmon & Michael Gambon.
My first meeting with Jane was at the
briefing session of the awarding ceremony in Oct 2006, where she kindly thanked
the Academy for acknowledging non-Persians’ effort along with the Persians.
With her presence, Jane honoured us and
immensely added to the sincerity of the event with her unique warmth and charm.
Dr. Dorbayani, founder of WAALM – Persian Golden Lioness Awards www.waalm.com describes Jane as “A Lady with Golden Touch”, and indeed she
has marveled us all with her costume designs and contribution to “The
Keeper”.
Here is Jane’s message to the
Academy and her audience after receiving her award:
“I am sincerely honoured to receive
this prestigious and beautiful award. Thank you very much, and also, I have been
in the few award ceremonies before, but never in such intellectual company. I’m
even more honoured by that.
I want to congratulate Dr. Mustafa
Dorbayani and Dr. Marjan Dorbayani for their extraordinary efforts in raising
the international profile of the Persian Golden Lioness Awards in this way.
We all know that art plays a
significant role in the international relationships and we certainly know how
important it is to work for better international standing. So, bravo again to
the WAALM.
I want to thank Kayvan Mashayekh and
Sep Riahi for having good taste to hire me. I want to pay tribute to Michelle
Milosh and Giovanni Natalucci and Andrea Borelli for my co-workers on The
Keeper. I specially want to thank my children for allowing me to travel so far
for over the years.
Thank you very
much.”
About WAALM®: www.waalm.com
About The Keeper: www.greatomar.com
Jane Robinson’s Biography:
Jane Robinson Costume Designer
– Filmography
*source: www.greatomar.com
