House of Sand and Fog
An Iranian immigrant and a troubled former drug addict find themselves locked in a desperate battle over a house—and their very futures—when legal injustice forces them into a moral and emotional showdown.
“Some dreams can't be shared.”
Synopsis
Behrani, an Iranian immigrant, purchases a California bungalow, hoping to renovate and resell it to fund his son's college education. However, the house is legally owned by Kathy, a former drug addict who lost it in an unfair legal dispute with the county and now has no place to live. Determined to reclaim her home, Kathy hires a lawyer and befriends a police officer. Although neither Kathy nor Behrani have broken the law, they become entangled in a complex moral dilemma.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 360+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Lisa Zeno ChurginShot by Roger DeakinsScored by James HornerDesigned by Maia JavanSound by Skip LievsayCostumes by Hala BahmetStunts by Scott Sproule
Box Office
2003 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 1.0× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$16.9M
US & Canada: $13.0M — 77% of worldwide · International: $3.9M (23%)
Also known as
- Das Haus aus Sand und Nebelde
- Haus aus Sand und Nebelde
- Casa de arena y nieblaes
- La casa di sabbia e nebbiait
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Cast & Crew
360 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Supporting cast
42Matthew Simonian
as Little Esmail
Namrata Singh Gujral
as Wedding Guest
Nasser Faris
as Wedding Guest
Mark Chaet
as Wedding Guest
Marco Rodriguez
as Mendez
Al Rodrigo
as Torez
Aki Aleong
as Tran
Joyce Kurtz
as Kathy's Mom
Scott N Stevens
as County Official
Ken Kerman
as Locksmith
Scott Kinworthy
as Deputy Trainee
Tom Benick
as Hotel Security
Samuel Hart
as Elevator Man
Jackie Ahdout
as Elevator Woman
Spencer Garrett
as Auctioneer
Cooper Thornton
as Gary
Isabelle James
as Teenage Girl
Bonita Friedericy
as Motel Manager
David Carrera
as Carpenter
Michael Papajohn
as Carpenter
Joe Howard
as Appraiser
Aaron Frazier
as Courier
Dan Brinkle
as Husband Buyer
Yan Lin
as Wife Buyer
Andre Dubus Iii
as Myers
Max Jansen Weinstein
as Nate
Ashley Edner
as Bethany
Ray Abruzzo
as Frank
Tom Reynolds
as Gas Station Worker
Jose Vasquez
as Arresting Officer
Matthew Waite
as Arresting Officer
Pamela Shaddock
as Nurse
Frank Gallegos
as Prison Guard
Karl Makinen
as Officer at End
Zoran Radanovich
as Sergei
Markus Baldwin
as Young Husband
Brian Reed Garvin
as Fat Man
Dennison Samaroo
as Doctor
Elton Ahi
as Wedding Singer
Shani Rigsbee
as Wedding Singer
Andy Madadian
as Wedding Singer
Leslie Yeransian
as Bridesmaid
Directors
1Writers
3Producers
9Other crew
305Dana E Glauberman
additional editor (uncredited)
Andrew Dumas
additional second assistant camera
Colin Cooper
adr recordist
George Berndt
adr supervisor
Rosie Malek Yonan
adr voice (uncredited)
Shannyn Riba
apprentice editor
Deborah Ricketts
archive researcher
Jonah Markowitz
art department
Rick C Taplin
art department assistant
Cheree Miller
art department coordinator (as Cheree Welsh)
Drew Boughton
Art Director
Marty Elfalan
assistant accountant (as Martin Elfalan)
Parents Guide
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