| Mumbai, June 27, 2006: According to legend, the Templars
no longer exist, extinguished long ago in the fog of time. But throughout the
centuries there have been constant reports that the mystic and secret order does
still exist. But where is it and what powers does it have? Find out in a special
presentation, "The Blood of the Templars", which will be telecast on
Saturday, July 1st at 7 p.m. and Sunday, July 2nd at 6:45 p.m. only on Star Movies. In
this special presentation directed by Oscar nominated Florian Baxmeyer, 18-year
old David grows up assuming that his mother and his father have died when he was
a baby. He is raised by a monk and is close to completing High School. He gets
into a fight during a party and discovers he is stronger than he thought he was.
Also, the blooding of an injury stops immediately and the wound heals within an
hour. All of a sudden, the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar show interest
in the boy and the quest for the Holy Grail begins once again, with David being
the one who can lead them to it. The Templars were an unusual order in that
they were both monks and soldiers, making them in effect some of the earliest
"warrior monks" in the Western world. Members of the Order played a
key part in many battles of the Crusades, and the Order's infrastructure innovated
many financial techniques that could be considered the foundation of modern banking.
The Order grew in membership and power throughout Europe, until it ran afoul of
King Philip IV of France (Philip the Fair), who caused many of the order's members
in France to be tortured into "confessions" and burned at the stake.
Under influence from King Philip, Pope Clement V then forcibly disbanded the order
in the early 1300s. The secrecy around the powerful Order of the Knights Templar,
and the speed with which they suddenly disappeared over the space of a few years,
has led to many different Knights Templar legends. These range from rumors about
their association with the Holy Grail, to questions about their association with
the Freemasons. Recent speculation about the Templars has further increased because
of references to them in bestselling books such as The Da Vinci Code. So
don't forget to tune in to "The Blood of the Templars" on Saturday,
July 1st at 7 p.m. and Sunday, July 2nd at 6:45 p.m. only on Star Movies to learn
more about this mystic order.
About Star
STAR is a leading media
and entertainment company in Asia. STAR broadcasts over 50 television services
in nine languages to more than 300 million viewers across 53 Asian countries.
STAR channels cover all genres including general entertainment (Star Plus, Xing
Kong, Star Chinese Channel, Star One, Star Utsav, Star World, Vijay, Phoenix Chinese),
sports (ESPN, Star Sports), movies (Star Chinese Movies, Star Gold, Star Movies),
music (Channel [V]), and news and current affairs (Star News, Star Ananda, Phoenix
InfoNews Channel). STAR controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming
and also owns the world's largest contemporary Chinese film library, with more
than 600 titles, featuring superstars including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and
Bruce Lee. In partnership with leading companies in Asia, STAR businesses extend
to filmed entertainment, television production, cable systems, direct-to-home
services, terrestrial TV broadcasting, wireless and digital services. STAR is
a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation. www.startv.com
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