Films •
The Living Daylights (1987) - In the 15th James Bond film, Dirie plays Waris Walsh in a supporting role. •
A Nomad in New York (1995) - BBC documentary about the career of Waris Dirie. •
Desert Flower (2009) - drama based on her autobiographical novel and bestseller.
Books •
Desert Flower (1998) with Cathleen Miller :The book that describes Dirie's genital mutilation, her adventurous escape through the Somali desert and the rise to a world-famous supermodel, becomes an international bestseller and appears in over 50 licensed editions. Over 11 million copies have been sold worldwide to date, 3 million in Germany alone (number 1 on the
Spiegel bestseller list from 11 to 17 January and from 25 January to 18 July 1999). •
Desert Dawn (2002) with Jeanne D’Haem :20 years after her escape, Dirie decides to visit her family in Somalia. A dangerous adventure, as Somalia has been plagued by civil war and famine for years. Her second book, which will also become an international bestseller (first place on the
Spiegel bestseller list from 8 to 28 April and from 13 May to 23 June 2002), describes the trip to her home country. •
Desert Children (2005) :With her third book Dirie starts a Europe-wide campaign against FGM. Genital mutilation is not only practiced in Africa, but also in the western world. It reports on encounters with victims and perpetrators, on their research, setbacks and successes. •
Letter to my mother (2007) :Dirie says about this book on the website of the Desert Flower Foundation: "This is my most personal book. There are simply wounds that don't want to heal. My longing was great to meet my mother again, to forgive my mother, but I had to realize that love and suffering are often inextricably linked. Working on this book was a painful but vital experience for me." •
Schwarze Frau, weißes Land (2010) :In this book Dirie talks about her life in her new, white homeland - and about her longing for Africa and her deep desire to help her home continent free itself from poverty, outdated traditions and dependence. •
Saving Safa (2013) :Little Safa comes from a bitterly poor family in Djibouti. Raised in a slum, she is selected for the role of little Waris Dirie in the biopic of the world bestseller
Desert Flower. The dramatic scene, in which the little girl is violently circumcised, makes people cry in cinemas all over the world. In real life, Safa is still intact. Dirie is all the more horrified when she hears that Safa's genital mutilation is imminent. And she does everything in her power to save the girl from this cruel practice. •
My Africa - The Journey (2017) :Together with her Desert Flower Foundation team, Dirie publishes her first reading book for children at African schools. The book tells the story of the little "desert flower" Waris and her brother Mo, who go on a journey together to discover their home continent Africa. On their adventures they get to know the flora and fauna of Africa. In addition to the story, the book also contains numerous writing exercises, which are intended to promote the reading and writing skills of children.
Musical On 7 March 2019, in the presence of Waris Dirie, it was announced at a press conference at a theatre
St. Gallen,
Switzerland that her extraordinary life story would become a musical. Written and directed by the German theater and film director
Gil Mehmert (converted Sönke Wortmann's film "Das Wunder von Bern" into a musical, 2014). The lyrics are by Frank Ramond, with the music by
Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (wrote the music for "
99 Luftballons" by
Nena). On 22 February 2020 the musical was premiered at the theatre St. Gallen in the presence of Waris Dirie. ==References==