The President's Visit (Ziyarat Al Rais)
New Voices in Cinema
Cyril Aris / Short Narrative / Lebanon, United States of America, Qatar / 2017
In Arabic / English subtitles
Interests: Comedy, Drama, Satire
Rated: Mature subject matter. Not suitable for minors. Individuals under the age of 18 are not admitted into cinemas.
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Synopsis
In a small fishing town, Nino sells soap at his Sultan of Soap shop. When he received a highly confidential phone call informing him that the President of the Republic wants to visit to buy a lot of soap as part of his campaign to clean up the nation, he is not quite sure what to do… and lets the secret slip. With the cat out of the bag, the whole town gets involved in preparing for His Excellency’s visit in this sly and clever satire.
About the Director
Lebanese director and screenwriter Cyril Aris obtained an MFA from Columbia University. The last short film he produced, ‘Submarine’ (2016), was in the official selection of the Cinéfondation competition at the Festival de Cannes, as well as the Toronto International Film Festival, and won the Jury Prize at the Dubai International Film Festival. His short film ‘Siham’ (2013) won a Jury Award for Best Short at the Palm Springs International ShortFest. He is currently in post-production with his first feature-length documentary, ‘The Swing’; his previous credits include the television series ‘Beirut, I Love You’ (2011-12) and the Yahoo web series ‘Fasateen’ (2012), as well as various other short films. Aris has taught Filmmaking and Film History classes at Columbia University, NHSI at Northwestern University, and Barnard College.
Credits
- Director
- Cyril Aris
- Screenwriter
- Cyril Aris
- Editor
- Cyril Aris, Mounia Akl
- Music
- Paul Tyan
- Cinematographer
- Joe Saade
- Cast
- Fouad Yammine, Nicolas Daniel, Najib Nassif, Walid Mounla, William Farhat, Mohammad Mounla, Mounia Akl, Siham Haddad