“The Miller Prediction”: A Feature Film by Cyrus Parvini

It’s not everyday a Baha’i feature film is produced so I’m very excited to share some details about The Miller Prediction with you! Produced by Cyrus Parvini, this movie is set in the early days of the Faith when William Miller predicted the return of Christ. Cyrus agreed to tell us about his much-anticipated movie, which is now available for purchase or rental on Amazon, iTunes, bestflixtv, and a few other distributors in the US (a complete list can be found here).

​Baha’i Blog: Hi Cyrus! Thank you for taking the time to share with us some of the behind-the-scenes information about The Miller Prediction. To begin, please tell us a little about yourself and your experience as a filmmaker.

​I am not a filmmaker by profession. I have been in international business and real estate development all my life but to be able to effectively proclaim the healing message of Baha’u’llah around the world I decided to take some film making courses at UCLA in 1985 and establish my production company under Radiant Century Productions in Los Angeles. I have since produced a few documentary films including “The Promise of World Peace- A Baha’i Perspective” which was the first Baha’i film ever broadcast on satellite in 1986.​

​Baha’i Blog: What was the inspiration behind The Miller Prediction?

​After reading Thief in the Night by William Sears and seeing the results of it by offering it to a few of my friends, I was inspired to produce a feature film to talk about the fulfillment of Bible prophecies and the claims of millions of Baha’is that Baha’u’llah is the return of the spirit of Christ. The 70 minute feature film is about the Persian pilgrims who were traveling to see Baha’u’llah in the prison of Akka in 1870. They met with the nephew of William Miller, an American Baptist Minister, who began talking about William Miller’s predictions in 1844 and his great disappointment when events did not happen. These followers of Baha’u’llah told him a different story.

​Baha’i Blog: Did anything unexpected or surprising occur during filming?

​Filmmaking is not an easy task and has lots of challenges, but when I was seeing my Muslim and Christian actors talking about Baha’u’llah and the fulfillment of Bible prophecies to the nephew of Rev. William Miller I could not hide my joy and excitement.  ​

​Baha’i Blog: What was your favourite part of producing this feature film?

Educating all our cast and crew about the Persian culture and working on the pronunciation of the Persian and Baha’i words. Also creating a fun and loving environment after gunshots and rough action during the shooting.

​Baha’i Blog: How has making this movie affected you or changed you for the better?

​I learned a lot from our mistakes and unexpected situations. The cost of production doubled and post production was long and difficult but after seeing the final product I felt good and thanked God for giving me the opportunity to produce this powerful and expensive feature film and to be able to use TV, the internet and social media to present this wonderful movie to millions of people around the world.

​Baha’i Blog: How has the film been received thus far?

​Our film has received three Awards including Best film, Best Director and Best Actor from Los Angeles Reel Film Festival, two Awards and six nominations from Madrid International Film Festival and four nominations from International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema- BERLIN 2016. We hope to get more in the near future. This is a must-see film and we hope to get great support from Baha’is around the world to make this film the single most powerful proclamation of Baha’u’llah.

Baha’i Blog: Thank you so much, Cyrus, for taking the time to tell us about The Miller Prediction!

If you’d like more information about the film, please check out its website, www.TheMillerPrediction.com, and if you’re eager for a visual teaser, here’s the link for the movie’s trailer. You can also watch an interview with Cyrus at the 2016 Madrid International Film Festival here. The film can be purchased or rented from Amazon and numerous other distributors (a complete list can be found here).

Educating all our cast and crew about the Persian culture and working on the pronunciation of the Persian and Baha’i words. Also creating a fun and loving environment after gunshots and rough action during the shooting.

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.