SYNOPSIS House of Sand 2005, Brazil, 115 mins., Portuguese/ English R Sony Pictures Classics Director & Producer: Andrucha Waddington Alfred P Sloan Feature Film Prize- Sundance Grand Jury Prize Áurea's saga starts in 1910, when, in pursuing a dream she never shared, she arrives in a caravan at a labyrinth of sand in Maranhão, northern Brazil. Her husband, Vasco, believes this land to be prosperous and she is condemned to a life in this barren place, her only female company being her mother, Dona Maria. Pregnant and dissatisfied with her destiny, she tries everything to find a way out. She spends 59 years living with an imminent departure. At first Áurea is hindered by Vasco and is forced to live in a house on the top of a dune, until one day, alongside her mother, she witnesses the death of her husband, buried by his own insanity. With a mixture of both pain and relief, she believes herself to be free. But the truth is, her fate is in the hands of destiny. Abandoned in the desert with her daughter, Dona Maria goes in search of a small settlement originally founded by runaway slaves. Here she meets Massu, who becomes an important companion for the two women. It is he who teaches them how to trade belongings for food. And salt, brought from afar by Chico, the only man able to come and go as he pleases, and whom Áurea clings to in the hope of leaving after she gives birth. :: Click here to Official movie web site ::