Taking us through the culturally rich and beguiling worlds of New York, Lahore and Istanbul, Mira Nair’s adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's international best-selling novel is a story about conflicting ideologies where perception and suspicion have the power to determine life or death. At a café in Lahore in 2011, a Pakistani man named Changez (Riz Ahmed) tells Bobby (Liev Schreiber), an American journalist, about his experiences in the United States. Roll back 10 years, and we find a younger Changez fresh from Princeton, seeking his fortune on Wall Street. The American dream seems well within his grasp, complete with a smart and gorgeous artist girlfriend, Erica (Kate Hudson). But when the Twin Towers are attacked, a cultural divide slowly begins to crack open between Changez and Erica. Changez’s dream soon begins to slip into a nightmare, as he is transformed from a well-educated, upwardly mobile businessman to a scapegoat and perceived enemy. Also starring Kiefer Sutherland.
2012 VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – OPENING FILM
2012 BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL
2012 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
2012 MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL – AUDIENCE AWARD
“Nair’s storytelling here is much like her film’s protagonist: often muscularly charismatic, intriguing and appealing.” – Matt Mueller, indieWIRE
“Nair carefully manipulates the viewers’ prejudices and forces us to take sides in a conflict more complicated than it first appears” – Anton Bitel, Sight and Sound (UK)