A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING

Cultures collide when an American businessman (Tom Hanks) is sent to Saudi Arabia to close what he hopes will be the deal of a lifetime. Baffled by local customs and stymied by an opaque bureaucracy, he eventually finds his footing with the help of a wise-cracking taxi driver (Alexander Black) and a beautiful Saudi doctor (Sarita Choudhury). He lost his job, his wife left him and he cannot pay his daughter’s tuition fees. Alan Clay (54) sets his hopes in the “King Abdullah Economic City”, a shiny, modern metropolis in the Arabian desert. He tries to sell an American IT company’s teleconferencing system to the king. But when Alan arrives for the deal, the king lost his interest in the project, and does not show up. Alan befriends Yousef, a young driver, with whom he gets to know the country and all the contradictions between modern and traditional spirits. On a hospital visit Alan meets Zahra. He ignores Yousef‘s warning, not to get involved with her. In the end, the project does not concern Alan anymore. He is not disappointed, that it failed, because he found happiness. With Zahra, a new professional calling and a new home.