Desert Flower, by director Sherry Hormann, is the true story of Waris Dirie. She fled Somalia to avoid a forced marriage in her early teens and having suffered all kinds of indignities in London, finally became a model. At the height of her career she publically announced that as a child she had been circumcised – and subsequently gave up her top model career to campaign against FGM (female genitale mutilation) which is carried out against 6,000 girls and women worldwide every day.

In the lead role the film stars Liya Kebede as Waris Dirie and stars in supporting roles include Sally Hawkins, Juliet Stevenson and the glorious Timothy Spall. The film was warmly received when it was premiered out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and will be on general release later this month. For more information about the film see: www.imdb.com/title/tt1054580 For the film trailer go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLsFybvh4Iw For more information about combatting FGM go to: www.waris-dirie-foundation.com/enMore about: Somalia, Venice film festival, Women’s rights

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