In Desert and Wilderness (Polish: W pustyni i w puszczy) is a 2001 Polish film directed by Gavin Hood.^[2] Adapted from the 1911 novel In Desert and Wilderness by Henryk Sienkiewicz,^[3] it tells the story of two children, Staś Tarkowski and Nel Rawlison, kidnapped by the rebels during Mahdi's rebellion in Sudan.

Filming took three months. It was filmed in South Africa and Tunisia. 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.^[4] Its content differed from the book and the film was said to be more modern, notably in its depiction of intercultural relationships. The film enjoyed considerable success.

The soundtrack for the film was composed by Krzesimir Dębski with Beata Kozidrak's song Rzeka marzeń (River of Dreams) recorded in 2000 chosen as the theme for the film.^[5]

• Karolina Sawka [pl] 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
• Konrad Imiela [pl] as Chamis
• Lotfi Dziri as Gebhr
• Ahmed Hafiane as Idrys
• Krzysztof Kowalewski as Kalioupoli
• Krzysztof Kolberger as Linde
• Agnieszka Pilaszewska [pl] as Madame Olivier
• Hichem Rostom as Mahdi

With 2.2 million admissions, it was the second most popular Polish film of the year behind Quo Vadis.^[1]