The President

by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Georgia, England

Director : Mohsen Makhmalbaf 

Script : M. Makhmalbaf, Marzhieh Meshkiny

Photographer : Konstantin Mindia Esadze 

Editing : Hana Makhmalbaf, M. Meshkini 

Setting : Mamuka Esadze 

Music : Guja Burduli, Tadjar Junaid  

Actors : Misha Gomiashvili, Dachi Orvelashvili, Ia Sukhitashvili, Guja Burduli, Zura Begalishvili, Lasha Ramishvili, Soso Khvedelidze 
 

Production : Maysam Makhmalbaf, Mike Downey, Sam Taylor, Valdimer Katcharava 
 


Distributor : 

Year : 2014

Screening : 2023

DCP, Color, 120 mn, OV georgian SUBFR

Competition Venice 2014

The president and his family reign over their country with an iron hand, taking advantage of a life of luxury while their subjects live lives of misery. In the space of 24 hours, a violent uprising puts this dictatorship to an end and the president becomes the most hunted man in the country. With his five-year-old grandson, he then tries to reach the coast where a ship is waiting to carry them out of danger. With their faces blackened like street musicians, they find themselves confronted with the suffering and hatred which the president has provoked... “When I was living in Iran, my films were either forbidden or else highly censored. To protest against this censure, I ended up deciding to leave the country. And if I were to return to Iran today - providing they didn’t kill me first - they would throw me in prison for life. As I have lived abroad for the last ten years, without settling down anywhere, my heart no longer beats for one country alone. When I hear about the tragic events taking place in Syria, I am just as overwhelmed as when I learn about what is happening in Libya, Egypt, Iran, Irak, or Afghanistan. Or in any other part of the world.” Mohsen Makhmalbaf