Wüstenblume - Österreichisches Filminstitut

Desert Flower

Based on the world best-selling book Desert Flower by Waris Dirie the autobiography of a Somalian nomad circumcised at 5, sold in marriage at 13, who became an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against circumcision.

Genre Drama
Category Feature Film
Financing Minority coproduction
Production DOR FILM Produktionsgesellschaft m.b.H.
Format 35 mm, 120 Min
Approximate cinema release 09.10.2009
Release 09.10.2009
Distribution FILMLADEN Filmverleih GmbH
Admissions 189.568
Co-production Desert Flower Film (DE), Majestic Film (DE), Mr. Brown Entertainment (DE), BSI International Invest (DE), MTM West Film (DE), BAC Films (FR)
International funding Filmförderungsanstalt (DE), Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Deutscher Filmförderfonds, Eurimages
Festivals & Awards (Selection) 2009: TCM Audience Award (San Sebastian)
2009: Austrian Ticket
2010: Bayrischer Filmpreis – Produzentenpreis
2010: Preis Innovative Produktionsleistung (VAM)

Details:

aka Desert Flower
German Title Wüstenblume
Script Sherry Hormann
Director Sherry Hormann
DOP Ken Kelsch
Editor Clara Fabry
Sound engineer Heinz Ebner
Producer Danny Krausz, Kurt Stocker
Funding institutions Austria Filminstitut, Filmfonds Wien
Costume design Gabriele Binder
Set design Jamie Leonard
Music Martin Todsharow
Cast Liya Kebede (Waris Dirie), Sally Hawkins (Marylin), Craig Parkinson (Neil), Meera Syal (Pushpa Patel)
Production manager Georg Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Voigtlaender
Television investment ORF (Film/Fernseh-Abkommen), ARD, ZDF
Film location Djibouti, New York, London, Germany
Shooting time March - July 2008
International distribution The Match Factory