Laila's Birthday

Event information

A moving and humorous tale of a Palestinian taxi driver just trying to get home in time for his daughter’s birthday. Without sermonising, Director Rashid Masharawi creates an indelible portrait of ordinary people living in impossible circumstances.
Abu Laila (Mohamed Bakri) used to be a judge, but because the government doesn’t have the means to pay him anymore he is forced to be a taxi driver. On the day his daughter Laila turns ten his wife insists he’ll be home early and bring her a present and a cake. Abu Laila has only one thing on his mind: completing this mission. But daily life in the Palestinian territories has other plans. Abu Laila must explain time after time during his day, “I’m a judge, but actually I’m a taxi driver.” It’s not the humiliation that drives him crazy, it’s the chaos. Abu Laila is adamant that passengers fasten their seat belts. He insists on no smoking. Rashid Masharawi embeds the politics of his story under the surface. True, Abu Laila must endure armed clients, bomb scares and raging arguments about occupation, but he really just wants everyone to behave. When at last he makes it home and is asked how his day was, the payoff is just perfect.