Desert Flower

A Feature film of

Sherry Hormann

Production year2008

French release10/03/2010

Runtime

2h 4m

Synopsis

It's a fairy tale, and yet it's a true story: Waris Dirie, a little girl raised in the Somalian desert, with rocks as horizon and goat-herding her only future, will become, thanks to the hands of fate, one of the world's most famous top models.

From a family of Somalian nomads, Waris had a tough but happy childhood surrounded by her relatives. But when her father decided to marry her off when she was 13, Waris ran away. Crossing the desert and risking life and limb, she reached Mogadiscio and found her grandmother, who enabled her to leave the country by finding her a maid's job at the Somalian Embassy in London. Waris worked there for 6 years, virtually a slave, a total recluse cut off from the rest of the world. When civil war broke out in Somalia, the embassy closed. Waris found herself left to her own devices in the streets of London, not knowing a word of English. She then met Marilyn and a friendship developed between them. This young, crazy and original woman took her in and helped her find a job. While working in a fast food restaurant, Waris was noticed by a famous fashion photographer. Thanks to him, she joined a modelling agency. Despite many adventures, she rapidly became one the great international top models. However, even when her fame was at its zenith, the glitter and glamour couldn't hide a terrible wound that would never heal. During an interview Waris revealed that she'd had undergone female circumcision when she was 3 years old. Picked up by the international press, her confession overwhelmed the entire world.

Since that moment, Waris decided to dedicate her life to fighting female circumcision that claims thousands of little victims on a daily basis.