HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG

Year: 2003
USA: DreamWorks Distribution
UK: Buena Vista International UK
Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher, Kim Dickens, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jonathan Ahdout, Navi Rawat, Carlos Gómez, Kia Jam, Samira Damavandi, Namrata S Gurjal-Cooper, Al Faris, Mark Chaet, Marco Rodriguez, Al Rodrigo, Aki Aleong, Joyce Kurtz, Scott N Stevens, Ken Kerman, Spencer Garrett, Cooper Thornton, Bonita Friedericy, David Carrera, Michael Papajohn, Joe Howard, Aaron Frazier, Dan Brinkle, Andre Dubus III, Ashley Louise Edner, Ray Abruzzo
Director: Vadim Perelman
Country: USA
UK: 126 mins
USA Rated: R for some violence/disturbing images, language and a scene of sexuality
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language and suicide
USA Release Date: 26 December 2003
USA Release Date: 19 December 2003 (Limited Release - Los Angeles and New York)
UK Release Date: 27 February 2004


Synopsis

Academy Award® winners Jennifer Connelly (A BEAUTIFUL MIND) and Ben Kingsley (GANDHI) star in the dramatic thriller HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, based on the acclaimed bestseller by Andre Dubus III.

A gripping exploration of the American Dream gone awry, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is the story of two people driven to measures to claim ownership of a house. It is only a small bungalow in Northern California, but to Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly), it is the last vestige of hope for reclaiming a life that was nearly lost to addiction. When a bureaucratic error forces her eviction, Kathy is left homeless-helpless to stop the house from being sold at auction for a fraction of its worth.

The new owner, Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley), sees the house as the fulfilment of the American Dream he has been pursuing since he fled from Iran with his family years earlier. A former Colonel in the Iranian Air Force, Behrani has been reduced to working menial jobs to maintain a pretense of affluence. Now he pours the last of his life savings into the purchase of a house that will, at last, bring back the prosperity his family once knew.

As Kathy and Behrani's fight for the house escalates, Kathy finds an unlikely ally in the officers sent to evict her, Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon (Ron Eldard), who becomes dangerously devoted to her cause. Caught in the maelstrom are Behrani's wife, Nadi (Shohreh Aghdashloo), and son, Esmail (Jonathan Ahdout).

What begins as a conflict over a small, rundown bungalow spirals into a clash of cultures that propels everyone involved towards an inescapable, and ultimately heartbreaking climax. HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG exposes the unsettling truth that it is sometimes our hopes and not our hatreds that divide us.

The dramatic thriller HOUSE OF FOG AND SAND is based on the acclaimed bestseller by Andre Dubus III.