supermodels Waris Dirie
Threatened with an arranged marriage when she was 13, Waris Dirie fled to London where she was working illegally as a cleaner before being spotted by a photographer. Arifa Akbar reports on the film that tells the extraordinary story
It is the story of a girl born to a clan of nomadic goat herders in Somalia who flees her remote village at the age of 13 when she discovers her family have arranged for her to be the fourth wife of a man more than twice her age. She travels from Mogadishu to London where she works illegally as a cleaner until she is "discovered" by a fashion photographer, and propelled into a life of international fame and fortune. So reads the true story of Waris Dirie, a former supermodel and face of Revlon who also appeared in the James Bond movie, The Living Daylights.
Yesterday, Dirie was at the Venice Film Festival to unveil Desert Flower, a film about her life, named after her internationally bestselling biography. The film, which has already received critical acclaim, stars some of Britain's best character actors including Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson and the comedy writer, Meera Syal. Dirie is played by Liya Kebede, an Ethiopian model who was in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd.
Speaking about the making of Desert Flower yesterday, Dirie, who now lives in Austria, said she wanted the film to focus on the secret which she revealed at the height of her modelling career in 1997, that she had suffered genital mutilation at the age of five.
The revelation transformed her into the "face of female genital mutilation", she said. "Before I spoke about it, no-one talked about female genital mutilation. I felt divided. There was half of me that said 'go ahead, I can handle it', and the other half said 'no'. I never thought I would get this far."
But it sparked an astonishing global response. She became a human rights campaigner, a UN special ambassador and received numerous humanitarian awards, including the French Chevalier de la légion d'honneur in 2007.
The film's director, Sherry Hormann, said she made a promise to Dirie that "the mutilation scene would be in the script" and that the film "would entertain as well as move people".
Hormann decided to make the film in Djibouti, which borders Somalia and Ethiopia. Desert Flower's subject matter upset some of the local people there. Genital mutilation is still a custom in some communities. "Hundreds of police had blocked the [marketplace] area for the shoot but then, all of a sudden, they all disappeared. Chaos broke out, members of the crew were being attacked with stones," she said.
However, Dirie said it was vital that the mutilation scene was shot close to where it had happened to her; although seeing it re-enacted in front of her was a painful experience. "That moment when I sat and watched the filming [of the mutilation] brought me back my whole life. It felt as if that part of it was real," she said. As the crew finished filming the scene, two women ran to them screaming and said they had just passed a bloodied rock where young girls had been mutilated. "As we were filming it [the mutilation], it was happening there," said Dirie.
Hormann was determined to film Dirie's life story as authentically as possible. She used local families as extras in the film as well as a real circumciser. "In Djibouti, I realised that Desert Flower would become the first film to focus on Somali culture and its Islamic roots. We filmed nomads who had never seen a camera before. We took the risk to get a real circumciser who was willing to allow herself to be filmed."..MORE..http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/the-supermodel-from-somalia-1782094.html
Related story:
Waris Dirie talks at press conference in Brussels
Waris Dirie, model and fighter against female genital mutilation, talks at Brussels press conference after she was reported missing for three ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk75mbf-zFA
supermodels of somalia
4 supermodels of somalia, khadra, iman, yasmine & waris with nice song bu sahra ahmed...called nugul ..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfuDdeVy_IA&feature=related
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir
Sultan Kenadid
Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan
Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Designation of Al-Shabaab
SOMALI REPUBLICANS
About Us
The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(2838)
-
▼
September
(225)
- DHS: Intel-sharing on terror lacking
- FBI watching for ‘homegrown' terrorists
- UPDATE Fierce Terrorist Infighting reports .. f...
- US officials worry about homegrown terrorism plots
- Update Report : Terrorist omar mohamad mahamud je...
- update-Islamic extremists in Somalia hunting Chris...
- Terrorist Infighting reports .. al Shabaab Terror...
- Emerging Threats Al-Qaida finding refuge in Yemen
- Germany backs French effort to train Somali forces...
- Success Against al-Qaeda Cited
- 13 civilians killed in Somalia battles,Ambulance o...
- SOMALIA: Islamist groups on a "war footing" in ,Te...
- update :Somali Government Claims Al-Shabab Execute...
- update: Al-Shabaab Terrorist pulls out from stra...
- The Struggle for Kismayo and Clan-Based Islamist W...
- The Battle for Control of Somalia
- Piracy continues despite patrols
- Seven jehadist from Somalia fighting with al-Houth...
- Fresh appeal for sanctions on Eritrea
- 6 Foreign Troops Killed In Afghanistan
- Rethinking Our Terrorist Fears
- Morocco dismantles terrorist recruiting network
- A Good Week for U.S. Counterterrorism Efforts
- Tapes of Oklahoma City bombing aftermath released
- Obama investing in Somalia govt survival
- Ethiopia: Somalia looks like a lost cause,Fears fo...
- Desperate Somalis Take Risks to Escape War, Poverty
- Somali Pirates Pushed off Ship, But Kill Captain
- Ministers debate AU role in Somalia after bombings
- Father of Alabama jihadist blames US foreign polic...
- "The Battle for Control of Somalia: Shabaab Terro...
- Weekly Homeland Security News Briefing
- Why the spate of U.S. terrorism charges?
- Djibouti Facing Local Insurgency and Threats from ...
- FBI comparing DNA to link Somalia bombing with Sea...
- Somali Shabaab Terrorist Claims American Was One o...
- Very soon will bring you interview omar mohamad ma...
- Other Somalia News Headlines
- Minnesota’s new top cop
- Man charged with plot to bomb Ill. courthouse
- Somali advocate: Terrorists recruiting in Seattle
- Somalia suicide bomber may be from Seattle
- Double amputation by Al-Shabaab: This is not Islam
- Terrorist in Kismayo to fight between them
- Islamist rebels face off in southern Somali port.....
- Al-Qaeda group threatened US's S.Africa embassy-re...
- Uganda buries fallen peace-keepers
- Pro-Qaeda Somali pirates to attack Indian ships, w...
- INTERVIEW-Somalia risks being "new Afghanistan"-EU...
- 12 dead in Somali fighting
- most read stories
- Toronto terror participant hated non-Muslims, cour...
- Somalia: Washington D.C Metropolitan Area Somali C...
- Report : Terrorist Cumar Maxamed Maxamuud aka Ter...
- Strike a show of al-Shabaab might: Officer
- Some questions about al-Shabaab
- Al-Shabaab terrorists 'living in Australia'Young S...
- Somalia's al-Shabaab proclaims allegiance to Bin L...
- Somali Terror Group Vows Loyalty to Al Qaeda
- Ahlu Sunna Accuses Al-Shabaab of Killing Moderate ...
- US shuts embassy in South Africa over security threat
- Deploy more troops in Somalia - Museveni,US praise...
- Ethiopian rebels in Somali attack
- Video: Somali crowds vow allegiance to bin Laden
- New Terrorist shabaab Video From Yesterday moga...
- Somalia Government Condemns Calls for More Suicide...
- New Shabaab al-Mujahideen Video: "At Your Service,...
- 'Beef-up Somali mandate'
- At least 17 killed in west Somalia fighting: elders
- Al Qa’eda spreads its terror web
- Kenya steps up controls on Somali border
- Terrorist al Shabaab tell schools to scrap U.N. t...
- Habar-gidir Hawiye Terrorist leader calls for ...
- In Somalia, WFP Spins As It Hires Mercenaries, Sou...
- Somalia and 1.5 billion Muslims welcome President ...
- MI5 trying to stop young Brit Muslims from being s...
- President Sharif congratulates to whole Somalis fo...
- Happy Eid ul-Fitr . Eid Mubarak
- FBI Arrests Afghan Men Connected With Terrorism Pr...
- UN inquiry into Somali attacks
- Targeted killings crippling al-Qaida
- Attack on general barracks of the peace-keeping fo...
- Somalia's leading export: its civil war
- Defiant Al-Shaabab reaches out to Somalis in Diaspora
- U.N. probes use of its vehicles in Somalia bombing
- African Union's weapons plea for Somalia
- Bodies of dead UPDF peacekeepers arrive
- Somali government??? says rebels have more car bom...
- Al-Shabab jehadist Slay Long-Time Christian in Som...
- UN, AU react to al-Shabaab attack in Somalia
- In Somalia, U.S. weapons end up in al-Qaeda hands ...
- EU High Representative for the CFSP condemns terro...
- Death toll from terrorist attack on Somalia AU bas...
- At least 10 Burundian soldiers killed in Somalia
- Targeted deaths curb al-Qaida's expansion
- Somali official: 6 more UN vehicles missing
- The Government of FDRE strongly condemns the terro...
- After a U.S. Air Strike, Somali Peacekeepers Pay
- Emboldened Al-Shabab Warns Djibouti Not to Send Tr...
- Somalia, Counterterrorism & Afghanistan
-
▼
September
(225)
Al-Qaida in Somalia. ...
We Are Winning the War on Terrorism in Horn of Africa
The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.
No comments:
Post a Comment