Miller Canfield Plays Legal Role in Michigan-Made Film, "Ocean of Pearls"
Film Debuts in Bloomfield Hills on August 7, Canton on August 14
OCEAN OF PEARLS, a feature-length film shot throughout Michigan in the summer of 2007, will make its theatrical debut August 7, 2009 at Landmark’s Maple Art Theatre in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The law firm of Miller Canfield is pleased to have played a legal role in the film, helping to establish the film production company, Ocean of Pearls Film Production LLC, for director, producer and local gastroenterologist, Dr. Sarab Neelam – the first Sikh director of an American feature film.
OCEAN OF PEARLS, Neelam’s first film, is infused with autobiographical elements. Neelam lived the early years of his childhood in India where he fell in love with movies and became inspired by the contradictions of beauty and poverty. He attributes his interest in Sikh history and culture to his grandmother, a survivor of the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. At the age of ten, Neelam and his family moved to Toronto, Canada, where he came face to face with obstacles created by being different. Neelam eventually became a medical doctor and was troubled early in his practice by the inequities of the American health care system. Deciding to fulfill a childhood dream, he started taking filmmaking classes with the over-riding goal to portray Sikhs fairly and fully on-screen. In the aftermath of 9/11, this became a moral imperative. Neelam has lived in Michigan for the past 25 years and currently resides in Troy with his wife and three children. He continues his practice as a gastroenterologist at William Beaumont-Troy and St. John Macomb Hospitals.
OCEAN OF PEARLS Synopsis
Amrit Singh is of two worlds, but belongs to neither. A turban-wearing Sikh, he has lived his life in North America out of sorts and out of place, cast adrift at an uneasy crossroads between East and West. But when he is offered a prestigious position as a transplant surgeon in a Detroit hospital, the young doctor sees it as an opportunity to start fresh. He struggles to be the man he believes he is and the person he wants to be. His ambitious pursuit of success; however, eventually leads to tragedy. It is only in defining his singular identity that he finds peace. This film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA. For more, visit www.oceanofpearls.com.
Film Release Dates
August 7 - Landmark’s Maple Art Theatre, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; August 14 - AMC Forum and Emagine in Canton, Michigan; August 21 - Landmark’s Embarcadero Theatre in San Francisco; and September 4 - Landmark’s Century Centre Theatre in Chicago
Miller Canfield’s Entertainment, Sports and Multimedia Group offers a broad array of integrated services for entertainment, sports and media professionals including financing, corporate and securities, intellectual property, tax, economic development incentives, litigation, labor, and real estate.