Laila's Birthday

On the West Bank even a judge must drive a taxi to make ends meet. All Abu Laila wants to do on his daughter’s birthday is to buy her a present and a cake, but things don’t go exactly as planned. Laila’s Birthday is a wry film depicting some of the absurdity of everyday life in Palestine. With an eye for detail director Rashid Masharawi portrays the characters and their stories with humour and not entirely without irony. The political undercurrents are also obvious – even though no Israelis are shown in the film their presence is conspicuous. ek