Desert Dancer
All actors and roles (10)
All team (40)
Short description
Desert Dancer tells the true story of Afshin Ghaffarian, a young Iranian who is drawn to dance in a country where it is forbidden. As a student in Tehran, he teaches himself through videos he finds online, taking inspiration from performers such as Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Pina Bausch. With like-minded friends he forms an underground dance group, rehearsing in secret and eventually staging a performance in the desert, far from the authorities. The risk of discovery puts his future, and his life, in danger. Freida Pinto plays Elaheh, Reece Ritchie plays Afshin, and Tom Cullen appears as Ardavan.
Richard Raymond directed the film from a screenplay by Jon Croker. It was produced by Fabiola Beracasa Beckman, Izabella Miko and Pippa Cross, and made with a budget of four million dollars. The story unfolds around Iran's 2009 presidential election and the political unrest of that period.
Critics were lukewarm: on Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rating of 5.3 out of 10 from 42 reviews. Audiences are more favourable on IMDb, where it sits at 6.2 out of 10 from around 2,100 votes, and on TMDB, where it has 6.9 out of 10 from 53 votes. Such scores suggest a modest reception, with viewers responding more warmly than reviewers. Released in 2014 and running 98 minutes, the film is a British production made with Moroccan, Emirati and Romanian involvement.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was shot over 7 weeks.
- The plot is set in Iran.
- Filming began in Morocco, with Casablanca serving as a stand-in for Tehran. The crew then moved to the Sahara, where the famous desert dances were filmed.
- Filming took place in Paris and concluded in London.
- The film marks the directorial debut of world-renowned choreographer Akram Khan.
- To better understand Afshin Ghaffarian and learn about his life story, director Richard Raymond and screenwriter John Crocker recorded over 8 hours of interviews with the dancer.
- Although the film tells the story of the Iranian people, only half of the actors on set were from Iran. The cast is international. For example, Freida Pinto was born in India, and Rhys Richie is English.
- According to Richard Raymond, the film 'Dancing in the Desert' is not political. It is about the Iranian people. To fully immerse the viewer in the atmosphere of this country, the film uses traditional music, mentions cuisine, and other cultural aspects of Iranian life.
- The film features many young people from Iran – young people who are not professional actors. Interestingly, not everyone agreed to participate in the filming for cultural reasons.
- Richard Raymond read the story of Afshin Ghaffarian in a newspaper.
- The director compares Ghaffarian's fate to the story of the Soviet ballet dancer and choreographer, principal dancer of the Leningrad Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after Kirov, Rudolf Nureyev. In 1961, during a tour of the troupe in Paris, he requested political asylum, becoming one of the most famous non-returnees from the USSR.
- To accurately depict Iran and the culture of the Iranian people on screen, Raymond not only studied books about the country, but also spent over a month traveling through it, memorizing and analyzing the contemporary political and cultural situation.
- Frida Pinto, who played the main role in the film, has been dancing for a long time. She prepared for the film and the dances in it for about six months, learning the movements together with Akram Khan and developing a special plasticity.
- The film's choreographer is world-renowned British choreographer Akram Khan. He was the choreographer for the dance section of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
