For many centuries, the rose has been the subject of myths and legends the world over. In medieval England, people have even fought wars in the name of the rose - the red rose of Lancaster against the white rose of York. No flower had a stronger symbolic impact than the rose, and none is more popular at present.

Our documentary features the creation of a floral megastar. In collaboration with some of the world´s foremost rose authorities (such as the creator of the English Rose, David Austin), we tell the story of the first cultured flower of mankind. Powerful myths are accompanying the rose through the centuries: in ancient Rome, in Cleopatra´s Egypt, in medieval Christianity and in the Romantic Period. The documentary explains the roots of these myths as well as their effects.

Shooting took place in rose gardens all over Europe, as well as in other athmospheric locations like  the battlefield of Bosworth and other central theatres in the historic War of the Roses. Furthermore, we visited Turkey´s Isparta, where tons of roses are harvested every year to manufacture the precious rose oil, and the trading halls in Dutch Aalsmeer, next to Amsterdam Airport. There, 10.000 people are working at the world´s biggest trading point for cut roses - the major battlefield in the present days´ real "war of the rose."

Length: 52 mins.

© VIDICOM Media Productions 1999