CYRIL ARIS

"A deeply affecting, beautifully shot cinematic novella; like all the best stories The Swing is a simple tale, but one that never short-changes its viewers." - From OPEN CITY DOC

“A heavy, lyrical portrait brightened by the warming rays of loved ones’ smiles.” -From KVIFF

Official Selection:
* 53rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic 2018 | World Premiere
* 43rd Atlanta Film Festival, USA 2019 | US Premiere
* 40th Cinemed, Festival International du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Montpellier, France 2018 | French Pr.
* 8th Open City Documentary Film Festival, London UK 2018 | Closing Night Film, UK Premiere
* 2nd El-Gouna Film Festival, Egypt 2018 | MENA Premiere
* 12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2018 - In Competition
* 24th MedFilm festival in Rome, Italy
* 10th Beirut Cinema Days, Lebanon 2019 | Lebanese Premiere
* 25th Minsk International Film Festival - Listapad, Belarus 2018
* 10th ALFILM - Arab Film Festival in Berlin, Germany 2019
* 2nd Documentary Convention Leipzig, Germany 2019
* ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema, BAM New York 2019
* 18th Istanbul Independent Film Festival, Turkey 2019
* 5th Budapest International Documentary Film Festival, Hungary 2018
* 20th Black Movie - Geneva International Independent Film Festival, Switzerland 2019
* 3rd Cairo Cinema Days, Egypt 2019
* 2nd Manarat Film Festival, Tunisia 2019
* Royal Film Commission of Jordan - Special Screening, Jordan 2019
* 6th Sudan Independent Film Festival, Sudan 2019
* 4th Haifa Independent Film Festival 2019

Awards:
* El-Gouna Bronze Star Award at the 2nd El Gouna Film Festival, Egypt 2018
* Honorable Mention at the 8th Open City Documentary Festival in London for "its impeccable judged framing and profoundly touching meditation on mortality and morality", UK 2018
* Jury Prize at the 24th Medfilm Festival in Rome, Italy 2018: "Director Cyril Aris delivers a painful and heartbreaking movie filming the silences, the unsaid and the grandparents' love, while reflecting on aging and death. The human condition is examined in a sweet way within a few rooms, and from a balcony overlooking Beirut."
* Jury Prize at the 2nd Manarat Film Festival, Tunisia - "It is a film about the last days of a couple, a story about death and love, about old age and memory. It triggers strong emotions and destabilizes with its ambiguity. It challenges us with questions of divergent answers. Eventually, we congratulate this film for the beautiful love story it depicts"
* Special Mention at the 5th Budapest International Documentary Festival, Hungary 2019
* Recipient of the AFAC Documentary Grant

”Intimate and moving. […] This is the kind of intimate portrait that captivates purely on the basis of what it reveals about the pain and the complexity of the human experience. [...] A meditation on truth, love and lies in the face of illness and death”

– Boyd Van Hoeij, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“Aris’ award-winning ‘The Swing’ is a unique examination of grief, loneliness.”

– Jim Quilty, THE DAILY STAR

The mix of personal story and universality is fascinating, as is the private drama which subtly unfolds throughout the film and the themes of memory, loss, aging and more that it deals with.

From FRED.FM

"Aris is observant and adept at balancing emotions. [The Swing] offers a window to big ideas of morality and mortality that will resonate with families everywhere.”

From EYE FOR FILM

“الفيلم فعّال لأنه مبني على أساس متين، مشغول بالغريزة، وهو أحد هذه المشاريع التي ما كانت لتنجح لولا الصدق والتورّط الكامل للمخرج.

يقفز “المرجوحة” إلى الحيّز العام لشدّة اقترابه من شخصياته بحميمية بالغة، وتترك أثراً

واضحاً في نفْس المُشاهد.”

هوفيك حبشيان -

From ANNAHAR

تمكّن العريس من إكمال فيلمه بشكلٍ سليم وجذّاب، بنائيًا وفنيًا، رغم صعوبة الموضوع ودقّته وحساسيته، حتى بالنسبة إليه شخصيًّا. ورغم الحزن الجاثم وآلام الأم وشبح الموت المُخيِّم في كلّ لحظة، إلاّ أن الفيلم "مُمتع" فعليًا، ورغبة إكمال مُشاهدته حتى النهاية لا تفتر

- محمد هاشم عبد السلام

From AL ARABY

“فيلمًا شفّافًا وقاسيًا، بقدر شفافية التفاصيل اليومية للزوجين والمحيطن بهما

[…]

و"المرجوحة" غير معنيّ ـ فقط ـ بأسئلة الموت وماهيته، وبأسئلة الحياة وما بعدها، وبأسئلة الاغتسال/ الحِداد وضرورته ومتطلباته، لأنه منسجمٌ مع فكرة "بسيطة" لكنها عميقة، تقول بإلغاء كلّ حاجز بين الكاميرا والشخصيات”

- نديم جرجوره

From AL ARABY

“فيلم مشغول بحب، يجعل مشاهده يتأمل في الوجود ويطرح على نفسه الأسئلة حول الحياة والموت

وماذا يتبقى لنا في النهاية حين يخوننا جسدنا وقدراتنا الذهنية؟

ولعل السؤال هو المحور الأساسي الذي يستمد الفيلم منه قوته، كونه يجعل المشاهد يرتبط ارتباطاً لصيقاً ببطلي «المرجوحة». فهما، قبل أي شيء آخر، بطلان من لحم ودم يمكن أن نصادفهما يومياً في حياتنا”

- فيكي حبيب

From AL HAYAT

“ما يفعله عريس هو ببساطة استعادة قوة السينما وسحرها الغامض، عبر شحن المشاهد بدفقات مستمرة وخفية من الحزن الجميل، يرقم سيرها الرهيف لحظات من الألم والمرح والرقّة والشجن والتساؤلات”

- محمد صبحي

From AL MODON

المخرج سيريل عريس يمنحنا هنا واحدًا من أفضل الأفلام العائلية على الأطلاق، مسائلة للعمر والذاكرة وألاعيب القدر عبر حكاية الجد والجدة

[…]

بهدوء ودأب وحميمية ملفتة نصير ضمن أفراد العائلة، نعايش معهم مأساة أكثر ما يثير الفزع فيها أنها اعتيادية، تحدث في كل يوم وكل بيت، مأساة حياتية وليست سينمائية

- أحمد شوقي

From FILFAN

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.

Official Selection at the:

* 42nd Toronto International Film Festival, Canada 2017 | World Premiere
* 39th Cinemed Film Festival - Montpellier, France 2017 | French Premiere
* 14th Dubai International Film Festival, UAE 2017 | MENA Premiere
* 11th Kustendorf International Film Festival, Serbia 2018
* 24th Palm Springs International ShortFest, USA 2018
* 49th Nashville Film Festival, USA 2018
* 4th Qumra Film Festival (Doha Film Institute), Qatar 2018 | Qatari Premiere
* 45th Athens International Film and Video Festival, Ohio USA 2018
* 33rd International Short Film Festival (InterFilm), Germany 2017
* 33rd Valencia International Film Festival Cinema Jove, Spain 2018
* Festival Des Cinémas Arabes à Paris, France 2018
* 30th Galway Film Fleadh, Ireland 2018
* 20th Sarasota Film Festival, USA 2018
* 27th Indy Shorts - Heartland Film Festival, USA 2018
* 20th Guanajuato International Film Festival (Focus on Lebanese cinema selection), Mexico 2018 
* 13th Show Me Shorts, New Zealand 2018
* 16th Festival of Mediterranean Short Film Tangier, Morocco 2018
* 22nd Arab Film Festival in San Francisco, USA 2018
* 23rd IFVA, Hong Kong 2018
* 22nd REGARD – Saguenay International Short Film Festival, Canada 2018
* 5th BBC Arabic Film Festival, UK 2019
* New Filmmakers Los Angeles, USA 2018
* 19th Kerry Film Festival, Ireland 2018
* Lebanese Short Films at Metropolis, Lebanon 2018 | Lebanese Premiere
* 13th Passaggi d’autore: intrecci mediterranei, Italy 2017
* 10th Heart of Gold Film Festival, Australia 2017
* 15th Bogotá Short Film Festival, Colombia 2017
* 13th FIFOG Festival International du Film Oriental de Genève, Switzerland 2018
* 5th International Bosphorus Film Festival, Turkey 2017
* 12th Big Sur International Film Festival, USA 2018
* Middle East Now Summer Nights Florence, Italy 2018
* 34th Festival de Cinéma Traversées - Lunel, France 2018
* 14th Akbank Short Film Festival, Turkey 2018
* 5th International Bosphorus Film Festival, Turkey 2017
* 20th Soria International Film Festival, Spain 2018
* 9th Arab Film Festival, Germany 2018
* 4th Arab Film Festival at the Arab American National Museum (AANM), Michigan USA 2018
* 7th Underexposed Film Festival YC, USA 2018
* 5th Literally Short Film Festival, Texas USA 2018
* 2nd Cairo Cinema Days, Egypt 2018
* 9th Festival de cine Al Este, Peru 2018
* 4th Arab Film Festival Zurich, Switzerland 2018
* 11th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, India 2018
* 3rd Festival International du Film Arabe de Gabès, Tunisia 2018
* 8th Postira Seaside Film Festival, Croatia 2018
* 3rd Batroun Mediterranean Film Festival, Lebanon 2018
* 5th FunCinema International Comedy Film Festival, Argentina 2018
* 6th Fairhope Film Festival, Alabama USA 2018
* Lebanese Film Festival, Australia 2018
* 4th C'est Right Short, Canada 2018
* 1st Elia Short Films Festival, Palestine 2018
* Open Visa Festival, Italy 2018
* 1st Lebanese Independent Film Festival, Lebanon 2018
* 4th All Lights India International Film Festival, India 2018
* 1st Reef Film Festival, Lebanon 2018
* Soria International Film Festival, Spain 2018

Awards:

* Grand Jury Prize, Nashville Film Festival, USA 2018 - Oscar qualifying award for the Oscars of 2019
* BAFTA student award - shortlist, UK 2018
* Muhr Short Film Jury Prize, Dubai International Film Festival, UAE 2017
* National Board of Review (NBR) Award, USA 2017
* Best Directing Award, Elia Short Film Festival, Palestine 2018
* Recipient of the Doha Film Institute Production Grant, Qatar 2017
* Recipient of the Katharina Otto-Bernstein Production Grant, USA 2017
* Recipient of a grant from the Ministry of Culture in Lebanon, Lebanon 2017

Absurdist political comedy is not often a genre you see in short films, but writer-director Cyril Aris's short does a remarkable job of encapsulating a wide-ranging political situation within one event and pushing its premise to the most extreme end, with humorous yet sharply insightful results.

There's no shortage of excellent craftsmanship in the film, with its elegant cinematography and stately editing, and there is a studied, almost mannered quality to the compositions that will remind some of Wes Anderson. The village itself functions much like a collective protagonist, and while Nino is the main character, visually there's an emphasis on wide and group shots, or shots that situate Nino in a moving tableau of village life.

The visuals are subtly stylized and striking, but the foundational strength of the short rests on its exceptional writing, which possesses a keen eye for the absurdities created by human vanity and an ear for the hypocrisies we tell one another in the service of ego. The narrative scale is confined to one visit, but the script's ability to create layers of subtlety and context is remarkably complex. Though it's played for laughs, the villagers' frenzy feels very true to a societal portrait of humankind's worst impulses -- impulses that can't be kept in check, resulting in chaos and damage that is blithely overlooked in the face of power.

The take on politics in "The President's Visit" is ultimately astringent in its sharpness, and though the film plays out much like a comedy, its portrayal of a populace's willingness to kowtow to power even to their own detriment is essentially a tragedy -- one hinted at the film's resonant final shots. It also emerges as a parable about the willingness of people to blindly follow a leader, no matter how problematic he or she is.

Though "The President's Visit" has the feel of a fable in its stylization at times, it's rooted in real life: there's plenty of examples of a lack of critical thought in yesterday's history or today's news, which makes the film's wry humor both a consolation and despair.

"Providing the biggest number of hearty belly laughs of any film on this list, Cyril Aris’ The President’s Visit concerns a small Lebanese fishing village that’s whipped into a frenzy when a local soap maker lets it slip that the country’s leader is buying some of his artisanal soaps for his “cleansing” of the country’s corrupt political landscape. What was supposed to be a secret trip to the town turns into an all out frenzy with people going out of their way (and in some cases, outright lying) in an effort to impress the president. Aris’ cast is comedically gifted across the board, and the director can get just as much mileage out of a well timed sound effect happening in the distance as he can from the film’s sharply written dialogue and message."

- Andrew Parker, The Gate

(Translation from Italian) "The short film uses an excellent MacGuffin to bring to light the theme for which people are willing to cling to anything to prevail over others and show themselves to the best in front of the authorities. This point is in fact one of the greatest contradictions of a society that passively accepts the daily degradation, but which seems to live thrills of moralism at the imminent prospect of an official event. The village society is a perfect cross-section of the wider Lebanese one, where the appearance becomes an effective move to win in the game of the prevalence of the ego. Naturally, the metaphor can be extended to human society in general, of any latitude and longitude. The community at the same time united and divided in the competition will inevitably come to a fight, bringing back their defects. The socio-political critique is clear in the representation of a community depicted as a flock of sheep that in adoration follow, without perhaps really understanding its meaning, the authoritarian figures. "

- Matteo Bardi (Mediacritica Editorial Staff)

"The President’s Visit is a comedy through-and-through, a farcical look at a populace intent on impressing the powerful by any means necessary, including hoarding bath soaps."

-  DEREK JACOBS, Cinema Axis

"The President's Visit" wins the Muhr Jury Prize at the 14th Dubai International Film Festival

The President's Visit @TIFF

Filmed in Lebanon & USA, 2011 - 2018

Excerpts from:
The Swing                                       2018
TSAKHI | Sax Jazz Bar                    2018
The President's Visit                       2017
While Grandpa Was Around           2017
Kinematic Music Video                   2017
Paribus Promo Video                      2015
Sofia Mon Amour                            2014
Siham                                               2013
It's All Fun and Games                    2013
Farewell                                           2013
If Anna Only Knew                          2012
Fasateen                                          2012
Julia Quinto Music Video                2012
Commercial Insurance Promo         2012
Anoesis                                            2012
Beirut I Love You (I Love You Not) 2011-2012

www.cyrilaris.com

Directing | Editing Reel

All films shot in Lebanon & USA, 2011 - 2018

Excerpts from:
The Swing                                       2018
TSAKHI | Sax Jazz Bar                    2018
The President's Visit                       2017
While Grandpa Was Around           2017
Kinematic Music Video                   2017
Paribus Promo Video                      2015
Sofia Mon Amour                            2014
Siham                                               2013
It's All Fun and Games                    2013
Farewell                                           2013
If Anna Only Knew                          2012
Fasateen                                          2012
Julia Quinto Music Video                2012
Commercial Insurance Promo         2012
Anoesis                                            2012
Beirut I Love You (I Love You Not) 2011-2012

Vimeo Staff Pick, 200,000+ views

Official Selection at the:
- 69th Cannes Film Festival, Cinefondation Category | World Premiere
- 41st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), 2016 | North American Premiere
- 13th Dubai International Film Festival 2016 | MENA Premiere
- 30th South By Southwest Film Festival, 2017
- 61st Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINCI), Spain 2016
- 24th Hamptons International Film Festival 2016 | US Premiere
- 45th Festival Du Nouveau Cinema, Montreal, Canada 2016
- 38th Cinemed Film Festival, Montpellier, France 2016
- 48th Nashville Film Festival, USA 2017
- 41st Atlanta Film Festival, USA 2017
- 57th Krakow Film Festival, Poland 2017
- 27th New Orleans Film Festival, USA 2016
- 10th Kustendorf Film Festival, Serbia 2017
- 23rd Palm Springs International ShortFest, California USA 2017
- 39th Denver Film Festival, USA 2016
- 21st IFVA, South Korea, 2017
- 2017 Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival, Michigan USA 2017
Spotlight Screening at the 46th Tampere Film Festival, Finland 2017
- 19th Sarasota Film Festival, USA 2017
- 29th FilmFest Dresden, Germany 2017
- 18th Newport Beach Film Festival, USA 2017
- 19th Mecal Pro, International Short and Animation Film Festival, Spain 2017
- 18th Flimmer Film Festival, Sweden 2016
- 19th Sarasota Film Festival, USA 2017
- 9th Arab Film Festival “Beirut Cinema Days ”, Lebanon 2017 | Local Premiere
- 23rd Adana International Film Festival, Turkey 2016
- 22nd Cucalorus Film Festival, North Carolina 2016
- 12th FIFOG Festival International du Film Oriental de Geneve, Switzerland 2017
- Traverse City Film Festival, Michigan USA 2017
- 23rd International Short Film Festival in Drama, Greece 2017
- 21st Arab Film Festival, California USA 2017
- 11th Films Femmes Mediterranee, France 2016
- 13th Lago Film Fest International Festival of Short and Documentaries, Italy 2017
- 12th Passaggi D’autore: Intrecci Mediterranei, Italy 2016
- 21st REGARD Festival, Canada 2017
- 19th Ismailia International Film Festival, Egypt 2017
- Festival International de Valencia, Spain 2017
- 7th Malmö Arab Film Festival, Sweden 2017
- 4th Literally Short Film Festival, Texas USA 2017
- Figari Film Fest and at the Olbia Film Market, Sardinia Italy 2017
- Middle East Now Festival, Italy 2017
- 5th Festival Cinema Arabe, Netherlands 2017
- MONA Festival, Belgium 2017
- 4th Tripoli Film Festival, Lebanon 2017
- 12th Arab American National Museum Film Festival, Michigan 2017
- 8th Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, USA 2016
- 4th International Bosphorus Film Festival, Turkey 2016
- 3rd Imagine Science Abu Dhabi, UAE 2017
- 4th Sudan Independent Film Festival, Sudan 2017
- 6th Long Beach International Film Festival, New York, USA 2017
- 4th ON Original Narrative Student Film Festival, UAE 2017
- 1st Sharm El-Sheikh Arab & European Film Festival, Egypt 2017
- Slow Film Festival, Hungary 2017
- LatinArab Film Festival, Argentina 2017
- Medecins Sans Frontieres, Turkey 2017
- PRAXIS Film Festival, North Carolina, USA 2017
- Lebanese Film Festival, Australia 2017
Featured Screening at the The Câmpulung Film Festival, Romania 2017
Featured Screening at the Montclair Film Festival, New Jersey USA 2017
Featured Screening at the Black Box Cinema Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, UAE 2017

AWARDS:
- Muhr Jury Prize at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival, 2016
- Liberty Global Award Best Film at the 39th Denver Film Festival
- Honorable Mention at the 41st Atlanta Film Festival, USA 2017
- Honorable Mention at the FIFOG Film Festival, Switzerland 2017
- UFVA KODAK Scholarship Award, 2016
- Best Director/Audience Choice Award/ Jury Selects at the 29th Columbia University Film Festival 2016
- IFP Award 2016
- James Bridges Production Grant