I think the high ratings are to applaud and encourage public awareness of FGM rather than for the film itself. The real life story is interesting and important. The film is poorly written. Save your time, watch a documentary, read "Infidel."

I saw this film last night at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Although it lacks the polish of a Hollywood film, it was compelling, dramatic and beautifully shot. I had thought I knew all about FGM, but I learned some things from the film. I hadn't known, for example, about economic aspects of FGM.

The film uses the activist's testimony from her speeches and writings as a subtle background narration in a dramatization of her life. It follows her as she flees war-torn Somalia and escapes to Ireland, where she is granted asylum as a refugee. Later she returns to Somalia, and this is the most dramatic aspect of the film.

Hundreds of millions of women have had FGM or are at risk. I hope this film is released nationally so that more people will gain an understanding of the issue.

This movie is based on the true story of Irfah Ahmed, an Irish activist. She was a girl from Mogadishu, Somalia where she was born and spent her entire childhood in a refugee camp and had to face a horrifying procedure of *FGM* (Female Genital Mutilation as in Female circumcision) She was cut!!! She was only 15! She was then trafficked to Ireland and eventually was given a political asylum there and she then went to become the first international activists against gender-based violence.