Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Liya KebedeWaris Dirie
- Sally HawkinsMarylin
- Craig ParkinsonNeil
- Meera SyalPushpa Patel
- Anthony MackieHarold Jackson
- Juliet StevensonLucinda
- Timothy SpallTerry Donaldson
- Lucrezia PhantaziaGirl in Boardinghouse
- Soraya Omar-ScegoYoung Waris
- Anna HilgedieckGirl in Shower
- 63
Chicago Sun-Times
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
Los Angeles Times
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. - 50
New York Post
Suffers from a lack of focus and a sitcom script. - 40
Time Out
More earnest than agile, the whole thing smacks of heavy-handed authorial jiggering-never mind that it's based on a true story.