Sandstorm Synopsis

He Tianying is a mid-level Chinese police officer. For twelve days and nights, he and his wife have been trapped in their home during a massive sandstorm covering a large area of China.

His wife is running out of life-sustaining medicine, their young daughter is missing in the storm, electricity and phone communication have been cut off, and their food and water are running out.

As He Tianying cares for his dying wife, in this isolation and confinement, his conscience starts to emerge. As a policeman, he has been involved in the vicious persecution of common Chinese citizens who follow the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. In a series of flashbacks, he painfully recalls one particular Falun Gong practitioner whom he had been attempting to force to renounce her beliefs. Under intense pressure from his supervisor, He Tianying is pushed to betray his conscience and persecute this innocent woman in order to protect his position. Refusing to submit, the woman is eventually tortured to death, as he watches on a surveillance monitor in the police station. This particular death severely shakes his soul.

As He Tianying consumes the last of his food and water, he is visited in a dream by an apparition of his daughter who helps guide him toward deeper truths and hope…