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Desert Flower

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United Kingdom, Germany, Austria · 2009
Rated R · 2h 0m
Director Sherry Hormann
Starring Liya Kebede, Sally Hawkins, Craig Parkinson, Meera Syal
Genre Drama

The autobiography of a Somalian nomad who was sold in marriage at 13, who then fled from Africa to become an American supermodel and is now, at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation.

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What are critics saying?

40

Time Out by

More earnest than agile, the whole thing smacks of heavy-handed authorial jiggering-never mind that it's based on a true story.

60

Los Angeles Times by Gary Goldstein

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 by Mark Jenkins

The broad comedy clashes with the movie's final message: that 6,000 girls face genital mutilation every day.

63

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

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.

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