Cast

Rong Tian (He Tian Ying)

This is Rong Tian's debut performance as the complex lead character He Tian Ying. It is a stunning debut that delivers subtlety, great depth of emotion, passion and intricacy. His performance is reminiscent of a seasoned veteran actor with both range and command of his craft.

Rong Tian has no acting training or prior acting experience, making this debut all the more stunning.

Lili Li (The Practitioner)

Lili graduated from Beijing Dance College in 1967 and worked over 30 years as a dancer at China's Central Ballet Troupe. She is now retired from dance. In the 1980's, she acted in the movie "Awakening". She was dance choreographer for the theatre production "The Coconut City Story".

Angela Huang (Young Policewoman)

Angela has been working in front of the camera for the past two years, starting as a news anchor for New Tang Dynasty Television Station out of New York.

She is now the host of the television series "Mandarin Time" running on Rogers Cable Station in Toronto.

In the role of the young policewoman she subtly conveys a wide range of thoughts and emotions through silent reaction shots while observing the persecution as a new police officer.

As her character begins to speak out and question the injustice she observes, her natural beauty and comfort serve the characterization perfectly.

Steve Hong (Supervisor)

Steve is one of the founding members of the Philippine Chinese Dramatic Association where he was well known as a young actor while playing many lead roles on stage. More recently he played the lead in the Toronto stage production, "Careful To Not Start Fires".

In his chilling portrayal as the Supervisor in "Sandstorm", he seamlessly transfers his talents from stage to screen in his debut on-screen performance.

Cheng Guang (Young Policeman)

Cheng Guang has acted in numerous short movies over the past two years, deftly playing a wide range of characters in both comedy and drama. He is currently one of the leads in the TV series "Office Stories". This is his first feature length movie.

Zeng Ziyu (Tong Mou)

This is Zeng Ziyu’s first performance in a challenging role that requires the depiction of an individual who slowly succumbs to death as her life sustaining medicine runs out. Her character, who is deeply deceived by the propaganda against Falun Gong, must also portray the inner shock and denial when confronted with a truth that is too much to accept. She does a terrific job of portraying this character who possesses the complicated Chinese mind.

Crew

Michael Mahonen - Writer/Director/Producer

Michael has been an accomplished professional actor for 14 years, having won Canada's Gemini Award once (Best Lead Actor in a Movie or Mini-Series) along with nominations for the same award on three other occasions.

Sandstorm is Michael's first credited movie as either writer or director.

As an actor, he has performed in film, television and on stage in Canada and the United States. He has two other screenplays in the works as well as the creation of a new stage production for the New Year.

Rebecca Boudreau - Producer/Production Manager

After attending Sheridan College as a film major, Rebecca completed a CTFPA mentorship program at Critical Mass Releasing and moved on to Summerhill Entertainment where she worked as manager of business affairs and worked on such television series like "Canadian Geographic Presents", "Flower Power", "CG Kids Canada" and "Weddings".

Rebecca has produced and directed shorts films such as "Kismet", "1+1=3" and "The Meeting" and has worked on numerous other short film projects as well. Recently she finished co-producing and editing her first music video called "Free Charles Li".

David Chai - Director of Photography/Editor

David has directed, edited and filmed commercials, films, promos and documentaries. Over the last seven years, he has worked for many TV stations, agencies, corporate companies, and independent producers. He's also completed a BA Communications majoring in Film and Cinema Studies at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. David has also written and directed several short films.

Corban Hu - Sound/Editor

Corban has worked on numerous independent productions as producer, director, director of photography, editor, and camera operator. He is currently producing the television series "Mandarin Time" for Rogers Cable in Toronto.