Ask anyone, anywhere to name things that are "typically Dutch" and the answer is going to include: tulips. However, before 1593 no Dutchman had ever seen a tulip. In the 400 years since, the tulip has not only become a symbol for the Netherlands, but the Dutch fascination with this most beloved of spring flowers has created the global tulip -industry, producing three billion tulip bulbs a year of which approximately two billion are exported all over the world.

But the tulip is not Dutch, it came originally from the remote mountain ranges of Central Asia - in areas that are now part of Russia, around the Black Sea, in the Crimea, and from the steppes located north of the Caucasus. In the 1500s when tulips were first introduced into Europe, these areas belonged to what was then known as the Turkish Ottoman Empire. It is known that the Turks were cultivating tulips as early as 1,000 AD. Before tulips ever reached Europe, they had enjoyed a long and fascinatingly rich cultural history.

In this one-hour dramatised documentary special we explore the astonishing history of the tulip, from its origins on the barren windswept hills of central Asia, to its place of honour in the lush imperial gardens of Istanbul, to its starring moment as the most coveted - and beautiful - commodity in Europe, to a phenomenon that has captivated the world.

STORY OUTLINE
This is the story of a flower that has made men mad. Greed, desire and anguish have all played their part in the development of the tulip, from a wild flower of the Asian steppes to a world-phenomenon. How has this magical flower influenced the face of history and shaped destinies? Why did the tulip dominate so many lives through so many centuries? In The Light of the East, we go back in search presenting a lively and in-depth portrait of the tulip itself, its splendid role in history and the spell it has had on mankind.

To achieve this, The Light of the East vividly narrates how this amazing flower managed to spread across the world from its ancestral mountain home in Central Asia, travelling with traders, explorers, even in the diplomatic baggage of an ambassador.

We chronicle how it was bred, celebrated, how it inspired crimes and how it was cursed. We introduce its admirers and enemies, both natural and human, a colourful cast of characters whose lives were inextricably entwined with it. We reveal its extraordinary diversity, its desire to always be trying on new clothes, its power to make and lose fortunes and to demand - and get - attention. And all this just to achieve one goal: to disseminate itself over the earth.

The Light of the East presents little-known facts, poetic myths and remarkable anecdotes showing how the cunning tulip has insinuated itself into human history and present times.

The saga of the tulip will be brought to life through a combination of contemporary film material, interviews and limited dramatic re-enactments. Remarkable contemporary footage will be brought in from both the Turkish and the Dutch side - we have unique access to historic monuments and spectacular art collections in Istanbul and Amsterdam. Interviews with tulip experts, such as Mike Dash (author of the book Tulipomania), Anna Pavord (author of the book 'The Tulip', and garden expert/presenter of a garden TV programme on the BBC), Deborah Moggach (author) and Alexander de Groot (owner of an international bulb trading company), will be woven into the story to illustrate events. These will also be combined with carefully re-enacted historical anecdotes of major historical moments. The stylised nature of these dramatic elements will provide a stimulating contrast from the contemporary documentary material and allow the historical portions of the programmes to remain strongly narratively driven.

This film is a Dutch-Turkish co-production. Through the Turkish co-production partner we have unique access to footage from both Turkey and Central Asia. This offers an exceptional possibility to portray the entire tulip story from both the Asian and the European sides.

Indeed, things have changed little today. As the national emblem of both the Netherlands and Turkey, tulips have never lost their appeal, they are now bigger business than ever. Each year they are responsible for more than 600 million US dollars (700 million Euro) in revenues in the Netherlands alone. And a new breed of tulip can still go for a princely sum. In 1987, traders paid as much as 500,000 US dollars for a new creation.

This film shows how, under the spell of the tulip, history, culture, commerce, cultivation, genetics, mania and a virus come together in a fascinating dance around The Light of the East, the success story of the tulip as has never before been told.

APPROACH & STYLE
In contrast with other films about the tulip, this film doesn't just focus on one part of the tulip's history but looks at its story in a broader sense, from an international perspective, to show how this flower has used cunning strategies to spread itself over the world and in the process, has influenced the face of history.

The Light of the East tells this compelling success story from a tulip's point of view. We reveal how the tulip used man, dominating so many lives across so many centuries, in its strategy to spread and multiply. The Light of the East takes the viewer to Asia and Europe to explore the fascinating and intriguing world of the tulip - a world of patience and strategy, love and death, power and magic. Exploring science, human adventure, extraordinary wealth and total mania