The Kite Runner (2007)

Director:

Marc Forster

Writers (WGA):

David Benioff (screenplay)
Khaled Hosseini (novel)

Release Date:

26 December 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

There is a way to be good again.

Plot:

After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble. |

Plot Keywords:

Child Rape | Father Son Relationship | Controversial | Honor | Escape

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Khalid Abdalla	...	Amir
Atossa Leoni	...	Soraya
Shaun Toub	...	Rahim Khan
Sayed Jafar Masihullah Gharibzada	...	Omar
Zekeria Ebrahimi	...	Young Amir
Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada	...	Young Hassan
Mir Mahmood Shah Hashimi	...	Business Man in Baba's Study
Homayoun Ershadi	...	Baba
Nabi Tanha	...	Ali
Elham Ehsas	...	Young Assef
Bahram Ehsas	...	Wali
Tamim Nawabi	...	Kamal
Mohamad Nabi Attai	...	Uncle Saifo the Kite Seller
Mohamad Nadir Sarwari	...	Spice Merchant
Mustafa Haidari	...	Party Worker
Ahmad Yasar Shir Agha	...	Birthday Singer
Mohammad Aman Joya	...	Mahmood
Abdul Azim Wahabzada	...	Karim
Vsevolod Sevanchos	...	Soviet Union Soldier
Sayed Miran Farhad	...	Burly Man in Truck
Murina Abudukelimu	...	Young Wife in Truck
Igor Radchenko	...	Soviet Union Officer
Larry Brown	...	Gas Station Customer
L. Peter Callender	...	Dean of Students
Jesse Robertson	...	Man at Bar
Josh Chamberlain	...	Pool Player
Marco Mazariegos	...	Pool Player
Shaan Price	...	Pool Player
Abdul Qadir Farookh	...	General Taheri (as Qadir Farookh)
Peg McKibbin	...	Flea Market Customer
Chris Verrill	...	Dr. Starobin
Amar Kureishi	...	Dr. Amani
Maimoona Ghizal	...	Jamila Taheri
Ehsan Aman	...	Wedding Singer (as Mohammad Ehsan Aman)
Yunus Osman	...	Cemetery Mullah
Mehboob Ali	...	Pakistan Taxi Driver
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Farid
Nasser Memarzia	...	Zaman the Orphanage Director
Abdul Salam Yusoufzai	...	Assef
Mohamad Amin Rahimi	...	Taliban Stadium Speaker
Aziz Raxidi	...	Assef Guard
Khalil Ahmad Nooryan	...	Assef Guard
Ali Danish Bakhtyari	...	Sohrab
Hameeda Hamraz	...	Rahim Khan's Neighbor
Kaiser Doulat-Beek	...	Man at Mosque
Ahmad Shah Alam	...	Man in the Park
Khaled Hosseini	...	Doctor in the Park
Habib Zargi	...	Park Kite Seller
Houshmand Habib	...	Kite Flyer Kid
Lukas Ferreira	...	Kite Spooler Kid
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Susan Farese	...	Woman in park (uncredited)
Tim Halpin	...	Soviet Tank Commander (uncredited)
Charles Lewis III	...	Graduate (uncredited)
Big Spence	...	Aaron Hill (uncredited)
Yvonne Truong	...	Graduate (uncredited)

Directed by
Marc Forster

Writing credits (WGA)
David Benioff		(screenplay)
Khaled Hosseini		(novel)

Produced by
William Horberg	....	producer
Sidney Kimmel	....	executive producer
Laurie MacDonald	....	executive producer
Leslie McMinn	....	associate producer
Sam Mendes	....	executive producer
Kwame Parker	....	associate producer (as Kwame L. Parker)
Walter F. Parkes	....	producer (as Walter Parkes)
Jeff Skoll	....	executive producer
Bruce Toll	....	co-executive producer
E. Bennett Walsh	....	producer
Rebecca Yeldham	....	producer

Original Music by
Alberto Iglesias

Cinematography by
Roberto Schaefer

Film Editing by
Matt Chesse

Casting by
Kate Dowd

Production Design by
Carlos Conti

Art Direction by
Karen Murphy

Set Decoration by
Maria Nay
Caroline Smith

Costume Design by
Frank L. Fleming

Makeup Department
Yu Che	....	assistant hair stylist: China
Yu Che	....	assistant hair stylist: Xinjiang second unit
Gretchen Davis	....	makeup artist: San Francisco
Leslie Devlin	....	key makeup artist: China
Yong Jie 'Er Ge' Fan	....	hair stylist: China
Xiu Mei Ge	....	beard maker: China
Xiao Lan Guo	....	beard maker: China
Teresa Hinton	....	key hair stylist (as Teresa Maree Hinton)
Ping Huang	....	assistant makeup artist: Xinjiang second unit
Ping Huang	....	makeup artist: China
Rei Hu	....	beard maker: China
Cun Jiang	....	beard maker: China
Hai Man Liang	....	beard maker: China
Shu Hong Liu	....	beard maker: China
Yan Xia Liu	....	assistant hair stylist: China
Yvette Rivas	....	key hair stylist: San Francisco
Zhang Shuping	....	makeup artist: China (as Zhang Shu Ping)
Jennifer Tremont	....	hair department head: San Francisco
Kristina Vogel	....	makeup department head
Christie Wang	....	makeup artist: China (as Wang Xin 'Christie')

Production Management
Nina Huang Fan	....	production supervisor: China
Kwame Parker	....	production supervisor
Ada Shen	....	assistant production manager
Carey Len Smith	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Abuduli Aizize	....	third assistant director: second unit, China
Yan Ba	....	third assistant director: second unit, China (as Ba Yan)
Abu Douli	....	third assistant director: second unit, China
Banjiang Kuer	....	third assistant director: second unit, China (as Kuer Ban Jiang)
Sharon Lam	....	first assistant director: second unit
Suk Ching Lam	....	first assistant director: second unit, China (as Lam Suk Ching 'Sharon')
Alyson Latz	....	second second assistant director
Michael Lerman	....	first assistant director
Kai Li	....	additional assistant director: China (as Li Kai)
Stephanie Pan Ying	....	additional assistant director: China (as Pan Ying 'Stephanie')
Hepin Qiao	....	second assistant director: China (as Qiao Hepin)
Hao Qi Su	....	additional assistant director: China (as Su Hao Qi)
Peter Thorell	....	second assistant director
Yimigjan Trdi	....	additional assistant director: China
Sean Vawter	....	additional second assistant director
Rebecca Yeldham	....	second unit director: China
Jinzhan Zhang	....	first assistant director: China (as Zhang Jin Zhan)

Art Department
Doreen Austria	....	graphic designer
Jeremy Ball	....	art coordinator
Douglas Cumming	....	art director: San Francisco
Sherrie Dai	....	set decoration coordinator
Dale Haugo	....	local lead scenic artist: Northern California
Patrick Ludden	....	property master: San Francisco
Annie Mueller	....	first assistant property master
Ben Nichols	....	construction coordinator
Maya Owings	....	art department coordinator
Tom Richardson	....	stand-by painter: San Francisco
Oleh Sokolovsky	....	art director: China
Michael Turner	....	assistant art director
Michael Voelker	....	set decoration shopper
Mark Warren	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Stephen Balliet	....	sound utility
Chris Barron	....	digital sound transferer (as Christopher Barron)
Courtney Bishop	....	adr recordist
Steve Boeddeker	....	sound designer
Lisa Chino	....	dialogue adr assistant (as L. Chino)
Brian Copenhagen	....	boom operator
John Countryman	....	digital sound transferer
Sean England	....	foley recordist
Frank E. Eulner	....	supervising sound editor (as Frank Eulner)
Andre Fenley	....	assistant supervising sound editor
Steve Finn	....	boom operator
Jonathan Greber	....	digital sound transferer
Lora Hirschberg	....	sound re-recording mixer
Zach Martin	....	sound recordist
Marilyn McCoppen	....	adr editor
Michael Miller	....	adr mixer
Chris Munro	....	sound
Ronald G. Roumas	....	sound re-recordist
Kevin Sellers	....	foley editor
Michael Semanick	....	sound re-recording mixer
Clint Smith	....	sound recordist
Karen Spangenberg	....	dialog editor
Marshall Winn	....	dialogue editor
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle	....	adr editor
Peter Gleaves	....	adr mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Jason Durey	....	special effects coordinator
Ken Durey	....	special effects coordinator: China
Dagan Jurd	....	snow coordinator: China
Hong Hai Liu	....	assistant special effects propmaster: China (as Liu Hong Hai)
Shaochun Liu	....	special effects propmaster: China (as Liu Shao Chun)
Joel Rosen	....	special effects translator
Tom Sindicich	....	special effects coordinator: San Francisco (as Thomas F. Sindicich)
Rei Xiang Xu	....	special effects: smoke and fire, China

Visual Effects by
Tim Alexander	....	3D modeling/texturing artist: CafeFX
Lindsay Anderson	....	visual effects artist: 2D plate reconstruction, CafeFX
Steve Arguello	....	3D modeling/texturing artist: CafeFX
Jeffrey Arnold	....	compositor: CafeFX (as Jeff Arnold)
Jeff Barnes	....	production executive: CafeFX
Andrew Byrne	....	3D matchmover: CafeFX (as Andy Byrne)
Nicholas Cerniglia	....	digital artist
Dylan Cole	....	matte painter: CafeFX
Sean Coonce	....	digital compositor: Cafe FX
John Cornejo	....	digital compositor: CafeFX
Vincent DeLay	....	digital artist: CafeFX
David Ebner	....	visual effects supervisor
Leif Einarsson	....	animation director
Mike Fischer	....	3D modeling/texturing artist: CafeFX
Jordan Freda	....	roto artist: CafeFX
Alex Friderici	....	3D modeling/texturing artist: CafeFX
Ron Friedman	....	animator: Cafe FX
Vicki Galloway-Weimer	....	visual effects executive producer: CafeFX (as Vicki Galloway Weimer)
Lisa Garner	....	junior compositor: Cafe Fx
Robin Scott Graham	....	lead compositor: CafeFX (as Robin Graham)
Kevin Tod Haug	....	visual effects supervisor
Jotham Herzon	....	previsualization lead: Proof Inc.
Joseph Hoback	....	3D modeling/texturing artist: CafeFX (as Joe Hoback)
Marty Holthaus	....	visual effects coordinator: CafeFX
Kevin Hoppe	....	3D matchmover: CafeFX
Steve Hutchins	....	3D modeling/texturing artist: CafeFX
Lei Jin	....	matte painter: CafeFX
Les G. Jones	....	visual effects producer: CafeFX
Brandon Kachel	....	matte painter: Cafe FX
Shannon Krueger	....	visual effects production assistant
Kevin LaNeave	....	visual effects editor: Cafe FX
Vincent Lavares	....	data manager: Laser Pacific
Tim LeDoux	....	Massive artist: Cafe FX
Neil Lim Sang	....	animator: CafeFX
Olek Lyzwanski	....	3D modeling/texturing artist: CafeFX
Bruce Mann	....	visual effects editor
Leslie McMinn	....	visual effects producer
Ed Mendez	....	digital compositor: CafeFX
Omra Menkes	....	animator: CafeFX
Fatima Mojaddidy	....	3D matchmover: CafeFX
Phillip Moses	....	production operations: CafeFX
Desi Ortiz	....	visual effects senior editor: CafeFX
Todd Perry	....	lighting supervisor
Chris Pinto	....	digital compositor: CafeFX
Richard R. Reed	....	digital compositor: Cafe FX (as Richard Reed)
Cong Ren	....	matte painter: CafeFX
Cong Ren	....	visual effects assistant: China (as Ren Cong 'Neo')
Ruben Rodas	....	paint/roto artist: CafeFX
Robert Rowles	....	visual effects
Parker Sellers	....	previs artist: Proof
Eddie Soria	....	senior paint and roto artist
Radley Teruel	....	digital artist
Robert Tesdahl	....	software development supervisor
Jason Thielen	....	animator: CafeFX
Gabriel Vargas	....	3D modeling/texturing artist: CafeFX
Alexander Vegh	....	pre-visualization artist: Proof Inc.
O.D. Welch	....	production executive: CafeFX
Shuichi Yoshida	....	digital artist
David Aughenbaugh	....	roto/paint artist (uncredited)
Daniel Lahr	....	assistant visual effects editor: CafeFX (uncredited)

Stunts
Hai Wang	....	stunt coordinator (as Wang Hai)

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Armbruster	....	grip
Dustin Ault	....	best boy grip
Herb Ault	....	key grip
Ken Bazal	....	second assistant camera
Richard Bowen	....	director of photography: second unit, China
Phil Bray	....	still photographer
Kai Chen	....	crane grip
Ian Chriss	....	grip: San Francisco
Chris Cotterman	....	grip
Dhamarata Dhiensuwana	....	key rigging grip: China
Mark Hadland	....	best boy electric
Jonathan Hall	....	additional photographer
Jeroen Hendriks	....	camera technician
Simon Jayes	....	camera operator: "b" camera, San Francisco unit
Zak Katz	....	video assist assistant
Ian Kincaid	....	gaffer
Raymond Lam	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Lee Mariano	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Brett Matthews	....	first assistant camera
Jim McConkey	....	head camera operator
Jim McConkey	....	steadicam operator
Michael Taylor	....	key video assist operator
John Trunk	....	video assist
Zoran Veselic	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Matthew Wakai	....	video assist: second unit
Lesley Watson	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera

Casting Department
Jeanne Boisineau	....	search casting
Nina Henninger	....	local casting
Kirsty Kinnear	....	casting associate: UK
Sarah Kliban	....	background casting
Sarah Kliban	....	location casting associate
Sarah Kliban	....	search casting
Eriko Miyagawa	....	casting director: China
Zoe Thompson	....	casting assistant: China

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lisa R. Frucht	....	assistant costume designer
Anna Munro	....	textile artist: costume department
Hilary Niederer	....	key set costumer
Susan J. Wright	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Mike Brosius	....	digital intermediate project manager
Michael Castillo	....	digital subtitles compositor
Jeff Charles	....	digital data manager
Valance Eisleben	....	digital data conformist
Nancy Fuller	....	digital intermediate project manager
Robin Gonsalves	....	apprentice editor
Paul Grenville	....	digital data conformist
Leilani Gushiken	....	post-production coordinator
Doug Jaqua	....	color scientist
Vincent Lavares	....	digital data manager (as Vince Lavares)
William J. Misset	....	digital subtitles compositor (as William Missett)
Harry Muller	....	color timer
Alex Olivares	....	assistant editor
Carrie Oliver	....	digital data conformist
Jake Rice	....	digital intermediate project manager
Mike Sowa	....	digital intermediate color timer
Stacy Underhill	....	digital data conformist
Robert Grigsby Wilson	....	editorial production assistant

Music Department
Diego Balduque	....	assistant music engineer
David Cerrejon	....	additional music arranger
David Cerrejon	....	music assistant
José Luis Crespo	....	music mixer (as Jose Luis Crespo Duenas)
José Luis Crespo	....	music recordist (as Jose Luis Crespo Duenas)
Sandy DeCrescent	....	music contractor (as Sandy De Crescent)
Sussan Deyhim	....	female vocalist
Majid Javadi	....	musician: male vocal, ney
Jorge Magaz	....	additional music arranger
Jorge Magaz	....	music assistant
Michael Nowak	....	conductor
Raúl Quilez	....	assistant music engineer
Jay B. Richardson	....	music editor
Peter Rotter	....	music contractor
Rubén Suárez	....	assistant music engineer
José Villalobos	....	additional orchestrator
José Villalobos	....	music assistant
Booker White	....	music preparation

Transportation Department
Lonnie Craig	....	driver
Henry Dray	....	transportation captain
Scotty Goudreau	....	driver
Derek Raser	....	transportation coordinator
Robert A. Wood	....	production van driver: basecamp

Other crew
Deirdre Ashby	....	stand-in
Cassandra Barbour	....	rights and clearances
Jeff Barnes	....	production executive: CafeFX
Adam Bayless	....	production assistant
Ernest Belding	....	location manager
Basir Beria	....	kite master: China
Kristine Bochum	....	second assistant accountant
Jaclyn Chessen	....	production assistant
Shauna Cho	....	assistant accountant
Douglas Dresser	....	supervising location manager
Sharlene Duale	....	assistant production coordinator: San Francisco
Mikey Eberle	....	set production assistant
Massoumeh Emami	....	script supervisor
Aaron C. Fitzgerald	....	set production assistant: San Francisco unit
Rachael Lin Gallaghan	....	production coordinator: San Francisco unit
Antonio Grana	....	set production assistant
Tim Halpin	....	technical advisor: military
David Hickey	....	payroll accountant: San Francisco
Ilham Hosseini	....	interpreter: Afghan cast
Kyle GuYue Johnson	....	production assistant
Tish Johnson	....	production accountant
Damiana Kamishin	....	key production coordinator
John Kiriakou	....	security consultant
S. Dylan Kirkland	....	production liaison
Katherine Kohler	....	post-production accountant
Jillian Kugler	....	assistant: Mr. Forster
Mike Lane	....	client services
Dionne Lotivio	....	production assistant
Sudeep Mathur	....	assistant to producers
Lauren McClard	....	assistant: Ms. Yeldham
Mijiti	....	animal handler
Rick Mischke	....	stand-in
Peter Moody	....	assistant location manager
Valerie Morris	....	clearances assistant
Chantal Nong	....	assistant: Mr. Horberg
Matthew Riutta	....	assistant location manager: Bay area
Hekmat Sadat	....	dialect/language coach
Hekmat Sadat	....	script translator
Laura Sevier	....	rights and clearances
Adele Sparks	....	archival researcher
Riyoko Tanaka	....	assistant: Mr. Parkes
Maggie Tang	....	production coordinator
Virginia Travers	....	stand-in
Matthew Wersinger	....	key assistant location manager: China
Ryan Whan	....	first assistant accountant

Thanks
Siddiq Barmak	....	thanks
Suzanne Bauman	....	thanks
Adrian Belic	....	thanks
Jim Burroughs	....	thanks
Renée Chabria	....	thanks
Nazi Etemadi	....	thanks
Dana Kohler	....	thanks
Ahmed Latif	....	thanks (as Ahmad Latif)
Mohsen Makhmalbaf	....	thanks
Bahaudin Mujtaba	....	thanks
Professor Lorraine Sakata	....	thanks
Hans Zimmer	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• DreamWorks SKG
• MacDonald/Parkes Productions
• Neal Street Productions
• Participant Productions
• Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
• Wonderland Films

Distributors

• Bontonfilm (2008) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• DreamWorks SKG (2007) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (2008) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Paramount Vantage (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Solar Films (2008) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2008) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2008) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• CafeFX (visual effects) (as Café FX Inc.)
• MK12 (main titles)

Other Companies

• ARRI  cameras and lenses
• Cata Studios  music recorded at (as Cata Studios Madrid)
• Chapman / Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Chapman / Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies
• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints
• Deutsche Grammophon  soundtrack
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Eastwood Scoring Stage  music recorded at (as Warner Bros. Eastwood Scoring Stage)
• Edge  soundtrack
• Entertainment Clearances  rights and clearances
• Gamma & Density  on-set color correction (as Gamma and Density's 3CP system)
• Hollywood Studio Symphony  music performed by
• L.A. Mad Dogs  adr group coordination
• Laser Pacific Media  digital film recording (as Laser Pacific Media Corporation)
• Laser Pacific Media  opticals (as Laser Pacific Media Corporation)
• MK12  main title design
• Media Distributors Film Source  emergency additional film source
• Pacific Title  end titles (as Pacific Title and Art Studio)
• Packair Airfreight  international logistics
• Packair Airfreight  international shipping
• Rockbottom Rentals  cell phone rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  satellite phone rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  walkie rentals
• Runway  additional support
• Skywalker Sound  re-recorded at

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for strong thematic material including the rape of a child, violence and brief strong language.

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Dari | Pashtu | Urdu | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Hong Kong:IIA | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Finland:K-13 | Taiwan:PG-12 | UK:12A | Canada:14A | USA:PG-13 | Sweden:11 | Ireland:15A | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Cameo: [Khaled Hosseini]Doctor in the Park

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The last scene shows the kites flying in a strong wind, but there is none at ground level (note her hair), nor matching chop on the water, and the glimpse of a sailboat suggests a breeze from the another direction.

Quotes:

Baba: There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.

Movie Connections:

References El Cid (1961)

Soundtrack:

Duk Duk

And the Oscar goes to ...

The Kite Runner should win an Oscar! It's perfect in every sense, the story, the script, the acting, the cinematography... One would never guess it was filmed in China. The story of two childhood friends and what follows in their adult lives will leave a lasting impression. The depiction of life in Afghanistan under the Taliban is all too real and horrifying. I have not read the book, but I have seen comments that put down the movie because "the book is always better"... It doesn't really matter. No one put down "Gone With The Wind" because it wasn't true to the book! As a matter of fact, it won the Academy Award for best picture and several other Oscars. I think this movie is bril