''In Desert and Wilderness'' () is a 2001 Polish film directed by

Gavin Hood Gavin Hood (born 12 May 1963) is a South African filmmaker, and actor, best known for writing and directing '' Tsotsi'' (2005), which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. He also directed the films '' X-Men Origins: Wolver ...

. Adapted from the 1911 novel '' In Desert and Wilderness'' by

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as The Trilogy, the Trilogy series and especially ...

, it tells the story of two children, Staś Tarkowski and Nel Rawlison, kidnapped by the rebels during

Mahdi The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...

's rebellion in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Production

Filming took three months. It was filmed in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. The original director, Maciej Dutkiewicz, fell ill at the very beginning of filming and his role was taken by Hood. A miniseries version of the film was later broadcast in 2002. Its content differed from the book and the film was said to be more modern, notably in its depiction of

intercultural Cross-cultural communication is a field of study investigating how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communi ...

relationships. The film enjoyed considerable success.

Music

The

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for the film was composed by

Krzesimir Dębski Krzesimir Marcin Dębski (; born 26 October 1953 in Wałbrzych) is a Polish composer, conductor and jazz violinist. His music career as a musician has been that of a performer as well as composer of classical music, opera, television and feature ...

. The themse song was

Beata Kozidrak Beata Elżbieta Kozidrak (born 4 May 1960) is a Polish singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer and lyricist for the Polish iconic pop-rock band – BAJM. She is one of the most popular singers in Poland. She has a four-octave vocal range and ...

's 2000 song ''Rzeka marzeń'' (River of Dreams).

Cast

* Karolina Sawka as Nel Rawlison * Adam Fidusiewicz as Staś Tarkowski * Artur Żmijewski as Władysław Tarkowski (Staś's father) * Andrzej Strzelecki as George Rawlinson (Nel's father) * Mzwandile Ngubeni as Kali * Lungile Shongwe as Mea * as Chamis *

Lotfi Dziri Lotfi Dziri (; January 6, 1946 in Carthage – May 5, 2013) was a Tunisian actor. Filmography Cinema *1997: Keswa, le fil perdu (Kiswa, the lost thread) by Kalthoum Bornaz *2001: Le Désert et la forêt (The Desert and the forest) as Gebhr *20 ...

as Gebhr *

Ahmed Hafiane Ahmed Hafiane (born 1 October 1966 in Ksour Essef) is a Tunisian actor. Biography A student at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Art in Tunis, he was active in the theater (i) with Hichem Rostom, then in Cinema of Tunisia, Tunisian cinema. F ...

as Idrys * Krzysztof Kowalewski as Kalioupoli *

Krzysztof Kolberger Krzysztof Marek Kolberger (13 August 1950 – 7 January 2011) a Polish actor and theatre director. His father's surname was changed from Kohlberger in the 1950s. He had daughter, actress Julia Kolberger, with Anna Romantowska. Life and care ...

as Linde * as Madame Olivier *

Hichem Rostom Hichem Rostom (26 May 1947 – 28 June 2022) was a Tunisian actor. He appeared in more than 70 films and television shows since 1987. He starred in '' Golden Horseshoes'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1989 Cannes F ...

Reception

With 2.2 million admissions, it was the second most popular Polish film of the year behind ''

Quo Vadis ''Quo vadis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?". It is commonly translated, quoting the KJV translation of John 13:36, as "Whither goest thou?" The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Peter's fi ...

''.

References

External links

* {{Gavin Hood 2000s Polish-language films 2001 films Films based on Polish novels Films based on works by Henryk Sienkiewicz Films directed by Gavin Hood Films set in the 1880s Films set in deserts Films set in Sudan