Richard Raymond 'connected' with Afshin Ghaffarian story.
Richard Raymond
Raymond is making his feature film directorial debut this weekend with Desert Dancer, which tells the true story of dancer Afshin Ghaffarian; who pursued his dream even though dance was banned in his native Iran.
And Raymond says it was that struggle to achieve his goals that he really resonated and connected with when he heard this story.
Speaking exclusively to FemaleFirst, the director said: "I read the story in a newspaper and I connected to it as someone who had been struggling for many years to try and become a filmmaking.
"I connected with Afshin's story of someone who had been struggling for many years to become a dancer and realising that all the obstacles in his path were a lot more dangerous and real that they were in my path. I just resonated with that very strongly. You can't really help what you fall in love with, I fell in love with this story and I wanted to share it."
And when the director met with the dancer, he reveals that his passion for his work burns just as brightly as it did in his early years.
Raymond continued: "I think it was the passion. I think that you are absolutely right in what you are saying, it was his passion. At the time when I met him, that passion was still very very vibrant and you could tell. That is what I connected with and that is really what drew me in. He was a young man who had a passion in a place that...
"I feel that the country of Iran is one of the most beautiful and Iran had the first ever charter of human rights and it is the birthplace of great poetry. I just feel that a story about artistic oppression to be contrasted against that country was something that was very attractive to me."
Raymond already has a number of short projects under his belt but Desert Dancer marks his leap into features for the first time. Jon Croker has penned the film's screenplay.
British actor Reece Ritchie takes on the central role of Afshin and is joined on the cast list by Freida Pinto, Tom Cullen, and Nazanin Boniadi are on the cast list.
Desert Dancer is out now. Read our full interview with Richard Raymond here.