Towelhead
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Alan Ball
Aaron Eckhart
Toni Collette
Maria Bello
Summer Bishil
Peter Macdissi
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Jasira, a 13-year-old Arab-American girl, is exiled by her mother to live with her strict Lebanese father in Houston, she quickly learns that her new neighbors find her and her father odd and exotic. Worse, her budding womanhood makes her traditional and hot-tempered father uncomfortable. Lonely in this unfamiliar environment, Jasira seeks to connect with those around her and finds both comfort and cruelty. Discovering that her ethnicity and newfound sexuality make her a target, Jasira must confront racism and hypocrisy both at home and at school. Jasira is drawn to her Army reservist neighbor, Mr. Vuoso, who captivates her attention with his stacks of men's magazines and confusing sweet talk. As she struggles to make sense of her raging hormones, she finds friendship and physical intimacy with an older schoolmate, Thomas. But even that relationship causes problems when her father discovers that Thomas is black. Driven by a deep longing for affection and acceptance, Jasira becomes the embodiment of the racial, sexual and political agendas of these very different men in her life--her father with his old world ideas of women; her dangerously alluring neighbor, Mr. Vuoso, and Thomas, who offers the promise of some feeling of connection through sex. When Melina, a concerned neighbor and expectant mother, tries to help her, Jasira's explosive situation comes to a head.
Director
Alan Ball
Cast
Aaron Eckhart
Toni Collette
Maria Bello
Summer Bishil
Peter Macdissi
Chris Messina
Eugene Jones
Matt Letscher
Chase Ellison
Gemmenne De La Pena
Lynn Collins
Robert Baker
Eamonn Roche
Carrie Preston
Irina Voronina
Cleo King
Michael Mcshae
D C Cody
Soledad St Hilaire
Nathalie Walker
Kimberly Knight
Loridawn Messuri
Lorna Scott
Shari Headley
Randy Goodwin
Larry Cedar
Virginia Louise Smith
Lee Von Ernst
Grant D. Samson
Crew
Benny Acevedo
Gregg Allman
Brandon Aly
Luis Ambriz
Isaac Amondson
Brian Andrew-tunstall
Gary Arabia
Ismael Araujo
Erica Arbelaez
Ricarda Arcega
Marie Josee Auclair
Alan Ball
Alan Ball
Brian Banks
Evelyne Barbier
Adrian Belew
Frank P Bellina
Robert Berman
Bill Bernstein
William Berry
Andrew Birdzell
Kara Blanchard
Jean-pierre Boies
Jean-pierre Boies
Michael Book
Jill Borba
Josh Borgese
Alasdair Boyd
Paul Brady
Christopher Branan
Anthony Bregman
Edie Brickell
Greg Brooks
Maxine Brooks
Peter Buck
Craig Budrick
Joseph Bunting
Charley Bob Burnham
Al Burton
John Bush
Chris Byron
Kami Calevro
Jon Callesen
Ernie Camacho
James Cantoni
Tom Cantrell
Anne Carey
Jaime Carrillo
Jean Carson
Rachel Chapman
Chris Chesney
James Chinlund
Darin Chisholm
Marjorie Chodorov
Jose Luis Cinseros
Sarah Clifford
George Clinton Jr.
Kenneth Closson
Alison Cohen
Alison Cohen
Vidal Cohen
Dennis A Coleman
Jesse Coley
Tony Colton
James W Combs
Brad Comfort
Lawrence L. Commans
Raymond Consing
William Constantine
Michael Counts
Bill Cowley
Herman Cox
Marsha Craig
Aiden Crawford
Tonya Cryer
Brandon Cunningham
Dennis Curlett Jr.
Lisa Chu Dietze
Michael Digiovanni
Tim Donelan
Joe Dornich
Greg Doyle
Pierre Dudan
Tulio Duenas
Jason Duenkel
Mike Duffy
Michael Duisenberg
Jim Dunbar
Michael S Duncan
Robert Duncan
Rosie Duprat-fort
Wadih El Safi
Alicia Erian
Eduardo H. Esparza
Juan Esparza
Patrick Faille
Andrew Farriss
Mark W. Fay
Jonathan Ferrantelli
Bill Fine
Johnny Fine
Carl Fischer
Christopher M Fisher
Amanda Flick
Ricki Fournier
Juana Franklin
Chris Frantz
Maria Frasca
Elisabeth Fry
Dan Fulton
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
John Garrett
Lonnie Gatlin
David Gavurin
Simon Georgiou
Seamus Gibbons
Roland Gift
Kelli Gillam
Mariusz Glabinski
Danny Glicker
Michael Godinez
Brian Godshall
Avram D Gold
Libby Goldstein
Juan Gonzalez
David Goodman
Diana Goodwin
Cathy Graham
Marlena Grzaslewicz
Jonathan Hall
Steven Hanks
Fred M Hann
Eddie Hazel
Shelly Helgeson
Elizabeth Himelstein
Khris Hirsch
Justin Holdsworth
Paul Hooper
Ted Hope
John Houser
Michael Hutchence
Noga Isackson
Gary Jackson
Mimi Jafari
Christian James
Per Jansson
David B Jarrell
Jimmy Jensen
Kate Jesse
Greg Johnson
Trent Johnson
Christina Jokanovich
Woo Joun
Salwa Al Katreeb
Andy Keir
Cameron Keith
Roger Kelton
Jina Kim
Jason King
Scott Kitchen
Dan Korintus
Steven J Kovalesky
Terry Kramer
Robert E Krattiger
Ritchie Kremer
Andy Kris
Romeo Lahoud
Eloy Lara Jr.
Joanna Lara
Marie Larkin
Fannie Laroche
Simon Law
Fred Lee
Mykola Leontovich
Ross Levy
J J Linsalata
Elie Littauer
Mike Locke
Rafael Lopez
Jose Lopez Alaves
Gabriella Ludlow
Chris Lum
John Lynch
Fainche Maccarthy
Larry Mah
Damon Marcellino
Monica Martin
Johnny Mathis
Carl Maultsby
Michael Mayerson
Mickey Mayerson
Crystal Mcalerney
Andrea Mcgee
Bob Mckee
Richard J Mclean
Nilo Menendez
Ross Meyerson
Guy Michaels
Charlotte Mickie
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Feature directorial debut for Alan Ball.
Warner Independent Pictures and Red Envelope jointly acquired North American distribution rights at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival for a reported sum of more than $1 million each.
Released in United States Fall September 12, 2008 (NY, LA)
Released in United States on Video December 30, 2008
Released in United States 2008 (Shown at Seattle International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema) May 22-June 15, 2008.)
Released in United States January 2008 (Shown at Sundance Film Festival (Premieres) January 17-27, 2008.)
Nominated for the 2008 Spirit Award for Best Female Lead (Summer Bishil) by Film Independent (FIND).
Released in United States Fall September 12, 2008
Released in United States on Video December 30, 2008
Released in United States 2008
Released in United States January 2008
Released in United States September 2008
Shown at Seattle International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema) May 22-June 15, 2008.
Shown at Deauville Festival of American Cinema (Competition) September 5-14, 2008.
Based on the novel "Towelhead" written by Alicia Erian; published by Simon & Schuster April 1, 2005.
Alan Ball optioned the film rights to the novel with his own money.
Released in United States September 2008 (Shown at Deauville Festival of American Cinema (Competition) September 5-14, 2008.)
