The President’s Visit
United States, 19m, Arri Alexa
When a small coastal town of fishermen learns about the secret visit of the President of the Republic to its local soap shop, they embark in an everlasting struggle at cleaning up and maintaining the perfect image of their town.
Director: Cyril Aris
Writer: Cyril Aris, Mounia Akl
Producer(s): Valerie Martinez, Marc Fadel
Co-Producer(s): N/A
Director of Photography: Joe Saade
Editor: Cyril Aris, Mounia Akl
Cast: Fouad Yammine, Nicolas Daniel
Contact: Cyril Aris, cyril.aris@gmail.com
About the Writer/Director
Cyril Aris is a Lebanese director and writer with an MFA from Columbia University, currently in post-production for The Swing, his first feature documentary, recipient of an AFAC documentary grant. His last short, The President’s Visit, was awarded grants from the Katharina Otto-Bernstein Film Fund and the Doha Film Institute. Previous credits include Siham, which won a jury award at the Palm Springs ShortFest, the TV series BILY and Yahoo’s original series Fasateen.
About the Writer
Mounia Akl is a Lebanese director and writer with an MFA from Columbia University. Her last film, Submarine, was in the official selections of the 69th Cannes Film Festival (Cinéfondation), TIFF, DIFF and SXSW. Mounia was chosen to participate in the Directors Fortnights’ Lebanon Factory. The movie she will make will open the 70th Cannes Film Festival's Directors Fortnight. She is currently writing her feature film with co-writer Clara Roquet.
About the Producer
Valerie Castillo Martinez is a Filipino-American creative producer holding an MFA from Columbia University and an MBA from Wilmington University, with a military and finance background. She won the EP Best Producing Award and Faculty Honors for her screenplay in 2016 and is a Caucus Foundation grantee. She is currently participating in Film Independent’s Project Involve Fellowship. She started IndieFlip to create content dealing with underrepresented subjects and cross-cultural themes.
