admin On agosto - 27 - 2014

Synopsis

In an imaginary village in the Caucasus, a President is on the run with his five-year-old grandson following a coup d’état. The two travel across the lands that the President once governed. Now, disguised as a street musician to avoid being recognized, the former dictator comes into contact with his people, and gets to know them from a different point of view.

ORIZZONTI

The President [Opening film] by Mohsen Makhmalbaf – Georgia, France, Great Britain, Germany, 105′

language: Georgian – s/t English, Italian

With: Misha Gomiashvili, Dachi Orvelashvili

Director’s Statement

In the course of the Arab Spring several dictatorships of the region collapsed, but more than 40 are still in power worldwide. But even in those countries that seemed to take a step forward towards democracy we have witnessed a great deal of violence, before and after the collapse of the old regimes. Hundreds of thousands people have been killed and millions more have been injured or become refugees. As the result of all this violence, the road to democracy after dictatorship appears more and more difficult for these countries. How can these nations possibly reach democracy and recover from these terrible conflicts? Following the collapse of any dictator, king or president, the violence used against them by the people will result in new violence later on. The new ruling party, having witnessed this, will not want to relinquish power, as they are frightened of meeting the same violent end. Therefore they resort to every possible means to hang on to their power, even killing the people of their own country if necessary. The President is a modern fable about power, reconciliation, and the hope for breaking a never-ending circle of violence, exploring the possibility of stopping the violence after a revolution in search of freedom and democracy.

 

 

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