Fortissimo Films is to handleworld sales outside of Brazil and North America for Conspiracao Filmes' The House Of Sand,directed by award winning Brazilian director AndruchaWaddington.

Waddington's Me You Them won a Special Mention in theUn Certain Regard sidebar of the Cannes film festival in 2000 and the CrystalGlobe at Karlovy Vary.

The House Of Sand stars leading Brazilian actresses FernandaMontenegro (CentralStation) and Palme D'Orwinner and Montenegro's daughter, FernandaTorres (Parle-Moi D'Amour).

The film is a co-productionwith Conspiracao Filmes, Columbia TriStar Filmes do Brasil and Globo Filmes. The script for TheHouse Of Sand received the Sundance/NHKInternational Filmmakers Award in 2004.

The House Of Sand follows the on-going struggles of the pregnant Aurea (Torres) and her mother Maria (Montenegro) who desperately want to find a way out of the aridBrazilian town of Maranhao. However, this proves to be far more difficult thanthey ever imagined and they find themselves alone in the desert; in a housefull of sand.

Waddington also acts asproducer on this film alongside Leonardo Monteiro de Barros, Pedro Guimaraes and PedroBuarque de Hollanda. It isco-produced by Lucy and Luiz CarolosBarreto and Walter Salles.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquiredthe North American rights for a planned spring 2006 release.

The deal was concluded byFortissimo Films co-chairmen Michael J Werner and WouterBarendrecht and ConspiracaoFilmes' partners Leonardo Monteirode Barros and AndruchaWaddington.