Madam President (2015)

Madame President follows NOURA SA'AD, a deeply idealistic cabinet minister who becomes the first female president of the fictional Middle Eastern country Jabalein. Following her predecessor's death and his deputy's shameful resignation, President Sa'ad sets out to reconnect with her citizens before elections are held in one year. But Sa'ad has inherited a country restless for change, and generations of youth desperate for work. From water scarcity to refugee rights and corruption, Noura must crack some of the country's most stubborn problems, while fending off her most rigid opponents, including the formidable Speaker of the Assembly, BASSEM, and neighboring President GENERAL NAJEM. Helping her navigate this political labyrinth is the cautious but pragmatic Chief of Staff MALIK alongside Press Secretary SAMAR, who wrangles a media bent on dissecting Noura's every move. But perhaps Noura's most pointed critic can be found in spunky blogger MAYA DAOUD, who serves coffee with a side of sarcasm at the always buzzing Jadal Café. Maya's letters to the president have become the keenly followed blog Madam President, and her observations tap into the nation's well of cynicism and doubt. She is the first to blow the whistle of hypocrisy, and the last to abandon society wide transformation. From opposite perspectives, each woman wants to articulate a new vision for the country, their ambitions crisscrossing with each step forward. It's a yearlong battle for Noura Sa'ad, an unending series of compromises between her nation, her family, and her own conscience. But what she can accomplish, and who she can convince? That's under negotiation.