Storyline
The autobiography of a Somalian nomad who was sold in marriage at 13, fled from Africa a while later to become finally an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation.
Directors
Cast
Anthony Mackie, Eckart Friz, Sally Hawkins, Craig Parkinson, Timothy Spall, Meera Syal, Anastasia Hille, Juliet Stevenson, William de Coverly, Liya Kebede, Teresa Churcher, Lucrezia Phantazia, Soraya Omar-Scego, Anna Hilgedieck, Matthew Alexander Kaufman, Prashant Prabhakar, Tim Seyfi, Nick Raio, Safa Idriss Nour, Nigel Betts, Michele Thevenet
Trailer
Reviews
63
Desert Flower tells a rags-to-riches story, but it plays like two stories in conflict. Everything involving Waris in Africa or in London before her success feels true and heartfelt. Many later details are badly handled.
60
Village Voice
Luckily, her cast makes up for the lapses, and Kebede is especially effective at showing how triumph over culturally sanctioned brutality remains a tentative prospect at best.
60
A lovely performance by Ethiopian supermodel-actress Liya Kebede as supermodel-activist Waris Dirie works wonders to elevate this uneven, occasionally awkward but often absorbing film.
60
NPR
The broad comedy clashes with the movie's final message: that 6,000 girls face genital mutilation every day.
60
Boxoffice Magazine
The film proves a gripping, if uneven, cinematic journey.
