Kite Runner, The

Amir (Ebrahimi) is a young boy from a privileged family in Kabul, Afghanistan in the mid-1970s, prior to the Soviet invasion of the country. His best friend is Hassan (Mahmoodzada), the son of a longtime servant to Amir's family. The boys spend their days playing together and practicing their kite-flying skills; Amir flies the kites, while Hassan is The Kite Runner, in charge of retrieving the kite after it falls to the ground. When Amir fails to come to the aid of his loyal friend when he is brutally attacked by village bullies, the crushing guilt ultimately separates the two boys. Now living in America, an adult Amir (Abdalla) gets a phone call from a family friend in Pakistan, offering him a "way to be good again." Amir travels back to his native country in search of forgiveness and ultimately redemption. Based upon the book by Khaled Hosseini. (Stacey Pendry)