from torture to triumph

Dilie was modeling in the '90s, photograp hers would sometimes notice the dark scare and scratches on her long, elegant feet.They look like someone took a lash to her,or a vicious birch branch. In the fashion  world, where perfection is vital, people would insist Dirjc needed body makeup or an emergency pedicure. e In fact, those scars are potent reminders of who she is and where she comes from. Dirie is a former super-
g model turned activist whose mission is stopping female genital mutilation (FGM). This year, her life story will be told in the film Desert Flower, starring  the model and actress Liya Kehede as  the adult Dirie, based on Dirie's 1998 autobiography of the same name. "I was  moved and shocked [when I saw] my entire childhood on screen,'' Dirie tells me as we sit  in her chic hotel room off the Champs-Elvsees in Paris, where she is promoting die film's upcoming French release. "It brought back all the memories."