LADY MARIA PELLEGRINI - Opera Singer

Throughout her career, Lady Pellegrini (recipient of the Cavalleressa del Ordine del Merito Italiana) has left her mark interpreting Puccini’s heroines, among them, her internationally acclaimed Cio-Cio San, remains in the minds of opera aficionados everywhere. As Madama Butterfly, Maria has sung in many of the world’s leading opera houses, including The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sadler Wells, Il Teatro Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste, Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Teatro Nacinal di Santo Domingo, New Jersey Opera, Vancouver Opera, the Taipei Music Festival and the Canadian Opera Company. She has graced the stages with other opera greats, such as Luciano Pavarotti, Sir George Solti, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Edward Downes, Anton Guadagno, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Ernesto Barbini, Birgit Nilsson, Frano Corelli, Gweneth Jones, Renata Scotto, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jon Vickers, Ermanno Mauro, Renata Bruson and Lando Bartolini. Her discography includes Passione, a collection of well-known arias recorded live. Among her many artistic achievements, Lady Pellegrini has been awarded the Ponte d’Oro, Il Primo Soprano d’Italia, the coveted Caravella d’Oro Award, the Puccini Medallion and was proclaimed by Lord Harewood as “the greatest Butterfly alive”. The Societe Radio Canada created a film production of Madama Butterfly for international televised broadcasts starring Lady Pellegrini, as well as productions of Traviata, Manon Lescaut, Lucia de Lammermoor and Otello. More recently, Bravo! has created a documentary called The Life & Times of Maria Pellegrini, Canada’s Butterfly, which is aired regularly on the Bravo! channel. We are both pleased and honored to have Lady Pellegrini play the role of Queen Mara Whitewood in the film Strafe.

ROBERT NOLAN - Actor

Robert Nolan is a graduate of the University of Toronto with an Honors Degree in English and Drama. He is one of the busiest independent actors in Toronto. Under the tutelage of comic maestro feature director John Durno ('This Movie Sucks', 'David Suzuki?', 'Gladiator!') and Steve Markle ('Inside Steve's MInd' ), Robert is mastering the persuasive nuances of comedy while being equally at home in the powerful passions of drama. He has been cast in many dark roles ('Scent of Rosemary', 'Blind Spot', 'Hyde' ) and has appeared on stage ('Rebel Without a Cause', 'Bethune''), on TV ('Zero Hour', 'Brain Attack', 'Cold Blood') and on radio. 2009 has been a busy year so far with the completion of challenging roles in the feature crime-drama 'Lucky 7' (Brian, principal), the 35-mm feature psycho thriller 'A Date With Fear' (Rick, principal) and the disturbing psychological portrait of a teacher in 'Worm' (lead). He participated in the recent charity dance competition 'Dancing With The Local Stars' at the Windsor Casino and has discovered a new passion for waltz, salsa and more (thanks to teacher Jennifer Lee of Viva Studios). Robert has just wrapped on an episode of 'Cold Blood 2' ("Sarah Whitehead") and is currently shooting a Much Music anti-bullying PSA music video - 'Bully' by hip-hop star D.O. (Duane Gibson). Upcoming projects include principal roles in several feature films - the sci-fi suspense-thriller feature 'Minus 8' , the action-packed 'Simon's Reach' and the mysterious 'UFO Charlie'. Robert would love to return to the stage and has plans of jumping out of an airplane (with a chute) this summer with a couple of cute girls (they talked him into it) - but first he plans on learning to play the piano - at least as well as that languid cat in the youtube video. Life is just too short isn't it? Robert played the principal role of "Kralin Whitewood" in the film "Strafe".

DRAGON RITUAL DRUMMERS - Drum Troupe

The Dragon Ritual Drummers are a Canadian pagan drum troupe with a Global following, their music is inspired from around the world and through the ages. They are currently the highest ranking unsigned Afro beat and Tropical band on the Canadian myspace music charts, and are the number one pagan drum troupe on the planet. They have been featured in numerous mainstream and pagan media world wide, and headline top pagan and musical festivals across North America. Their shows are uplifting and interactive, filled with dancing, invocations, stories and rhythms of creole history and voodoo gods. Their main totem and namesake is the historic dragon spirit that resides at the brink of their home in Niagara Falls, and have released the worlds first "Drum Opera" telling the story and history of the Niagara dragon and its surrounding region. They have produced four CDs independently, available at their web site, itunes or a fine occult shop near you. Dragon Ritual Drummers’ music is featured in the film “Strafe”.

www.dragonritualdrummers.com
www.myspace.com/dragonritualdrummers

SHIBATEN SPIRITS - Musician

Shibaten is originally from Japan. He has been traveling around the world throughout Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America since April 1999. Each new country he visited,

he collected a new sound to enhance their spiritually and uniqueness of his performance. Expect to see Didgeridoo (Australia), Djembe (Guinea), Sese (Mali), Foot Nuts Bell (Indonesia),Tibetan Bell (Tibet), Thai Gong (Thailand), Wind Chime (Indonesia), Chinese Cymbal (China), Clap Sticks (Burkina Faso), African Bell (Guinea), Chau Gong (China), Stomp box (Australia). His music comes from nature, the culture of the countries he's visited and his heart. He believes language is not the only means of communication, and music knows no frontiers. Some of Shibaten's music from the "This Earth" album is featured in the film "Strafe".

"NO HEART, NO MUSIC. MUSIC IS FROM THE SPIRIT"

DRAGON RITUAL DRUMMERS join the STRAFE Soundtrack!

I am pleased and honored to announce that the Dragon Ritual Drummers have joined the Strafe project, contributing their powerful spiritual music and energy to the Strafe soundtrack! We will be featuring a few of their tunes throughout the film, alongside Paul Whitaker's original compositions and Shibaten Spirits. STRAFE is truly blessed! I am so grateful for all the fantastic people involved in this project, I can't wait!

KIRK WOOD - Actor

Kirk Wood is an actor, writer, singer and stuntman. He has been working in theatre and as an entertainer since the tender age of 6. Growing up in a creatively thriving community north of Toronto, Canada, he was exposed to various art forms early on in life but ultimately fell in love with the silver screen. At the age of twenty-two; after a two year hiatus of traveling across Australia and New Zealand, he quickly returned to study classical theatre at the esteemed Humber College. In his second year he transferred into a new program strictly focused on acting for film. He spent two more years learning the craft and graduated in the top of his class. Whilst in school Kirk also began to train at a dinner theatre company called Medieval Times. He spent almost five years there and is now skilled in the very technically challenging art of choreographed combat with a wide array of medieval weaponry. In addition, Kirk is a very gifted and accomplished horse rider, mainly trained in the traditional English riding style. Kirk’s execution of stunt falls off of horseback and prowess in the art of the joust secured his status as teacher and trainer until he left the Toronto castle early in 2007. Since moving to Vancouver almost two years ago he has experienced an unprecedented amount of success working in independent film and is very excited about the unveiling of V.I.P.’s first webcast in 2010. He is focused on writing screenplays, developing a number of web series and continuing to build his career as an actor. Kirk played the principal role of “Leander Gurden” in the film “Strafe”.

MOHAMED HASSAN - Director of Photography

A Sudanese Canadian and an award winning filmmaker, Mohamed Hassan, is the son of renowned journalist and political activist Abdullah Hassan. Advocates of human rights and democratic principles the family was forced to flee the Sudanese military junta. Since graduating with honors from the Toronto Film School in Film and TV production, Mohamed has been producing and directing independent shows, short films, commercials, music videos, corporate videos, and feature documentaries, as well as Cinematographer on a number of shorts and feature length films. He is currently in post- production on his latest documentary DEATH IN DARFUR: THE TRUTH, which he produced and directed. Mohamed immerses himself in the root causes of the conflict that has been declared by the United Nations as the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st Century, while documenting the day-to-day experience of life on the edge in Darfur, Sudan. The film is due for release this fall 2009. Mohamed is the winner of the following awards in film;

** Ontario film Review Board Class Acts Student Film Award 2006
** Cinematography award the Academy Film Festival 2004
** Outstanding cinematography award Toronto Film School 2003