Desert Dancer (Richard Raymond, 2014): United Kingdom

Reviewed by Mimmi Karlsson. Viewed at the Arlington Theater at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2015.

Can you imagine not being able to say whatever you want without being killed, or perform your passion without going to prison? I certainly cannot, but this is the daily life for the population in Desert Dancer which takes place in Iran where dance, along with other activities, are forbidden. This is a true story about a group of friends who try to get more out of their lives, with dance.

Afshin (Reece Ritchie) has always been interested in arts but ever since he was a child, he has been punished for it. In college he starts up a dance group with his friends- but in secret of course. The group practices in a closed room and keeps it a secret from the rest of the world. That is, until they decide to perform to an audience. They take a huge risk to go through with their plan and it is not easily done.

Desert Dancer is a powerful film that shows how it is to live in a world where not all opinions are okay to speak. A political demonstration rally ends with blood, and some people have to fight for their life to survive. The movie shows a terrifying scene when some people, who don’t agree with the demonstration, start to hit people in the rally and beat them down to the ground. They even kidnap some demonstrators to beat them even more. I got a stomach ache from just watching this scene. I was really drawn into the movie’s feelings.

As the movie started I was surprised that they all spoke English, which I know is not a main language in Iran. They had a middle eastern accent and sometimes it was hard to hear what they said, but considering that, it was an amazing movie and I loved it. The movie got stuck in my mind and I like it more and more the more I think about it. I am a dancer myself so this movie really spoke to me. I can’t imagine my life without dance and all the happiness around it. Dance has its own language which is why I feel sorry for the characters in Desert Dancer that are not allowed to perform it legally.

The entire movie had powerful moments, colorful settings and showed beautiful views of the desert in Iran. The cinematography was detailed when the actors were dancing which made the scenes very real. I could feel the emotions through the movie screen when I saw their facial expressions and one scene that I remember a lot was when Afshin and Elaheh (Freida Pinto) danced together in their closed dance room and they followed each others hands with their eyes. They showed both happiness and sadness along with confuse. It was truly beautiful and I can just say over and over that this is a wonderful movie that left its marks on me.