One of the film's funnier moments showed Daher filling bottles of 'Holy Water,' for sale to tourists, directly from the tap. He no longer carries the items, he says, because tourists could buy them more cheaply elsewhere. Chronicle of a Disappearance was in many ways a tale of small-town boredom, and it was not far off the mark. Daher's days are spent waiting. As he waits, he smokes about half a pack of cigarettes and may play a game of backgammon or two with his friend Yussuf.
Lifelong friends drop by and exchange backslapping greetings that punctuate the waiting.
At other times Daher just sits quietly while the hours and the days pass by. What Daher is waiting for is business. As the eve of the millennium approaches, the streets of Nazareth are strangely empty. A few tour groups meander up Casanova Street, past the Islamic Movement's open-air mosque, to the Basilica of the Annunciation. A very few pick aimlessly at the knick-knacks in The Holyland and similar stores.