“To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it” – Charlie Chaplin.
It is that bittersweet pain of caring too much for a country we call home that drove the story of The President’s Visit, set in our political deadlock, where the Presidential seat had been vacant for over two years. This absurdity is something you cry at, play with… and eventually laugh at. I find it inherently Lebanese to play with contradictions, so adopting a contrasting tone to the subject matter is truthful to the place and identity. Comedy becomes a self-imposed remedy to make the situation more bearable, while our lives simply pass by. But in this film, the townsfolk eagerly overdress and over-prepare for the coming of The President – for a better future, for a better life. Because this time, change is coming… Maybe tomorrow is, indeed, a better day.