“Desert Dancer” is based on the true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian who risked his life to start a dance company in the midst the political unrest in his country. Director Richard Raymond was inspired by Ghaffarian’s story, but he didn’t want to make a political statement with the film; he wanted to convey the idea “we’re actually not all that different and we have the same hopes and dreams and we should all have the same rights to fulfill our artistic potential,” he explains.
Raymond knew and cast many of the actors himself. Besides having a lot of actor friends, Raymond regularly attends theater in London and watches independent films. “You’re always on the lookout for who could be in your film,” he says. Raymond discovered Reece Ritchie in a small role in “The Lovely Bones.” “I was very struck by how sensitive he was as an actor…and he looked just like the real Afshin.”
“I’d rather cast a great actor for a part rather than an actor that wasn’t the right actor for the part, but was the right ethnicity,” says Raymond, who focused on actors who had a passion and connection to the film. Bamshad
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