Sinossi
Abu Laila è un funzionario ma per vivere fa il taxista. E' un uomo qualsiasi, ordinario, preciso, diligente, quasi maniacale nei suoi rituali. Il giorno del compleanno della figlia le promette di festeggiarla al suo ritorno a casa. Nel corso della giornata si scontra con tutti i paradossi possibili della società palestinese: l'incapacità della politica di farsi carico dei problemi della gente, la polizia, il sistema giudiziario, gli attacchi israeliani. Mentre intorno a lui si scatena il finimondo, egli è determinato a trovare un regalo per la figlia e non demorde. Cerca a tutti i costi una normalità…

EID MILAD LAILA - IL COMPLEANNO DI LAILA
Palestina / Tunisia / Olanda - 2008

Regia: Rashid Masharawi
Sceneggiatura: Rashid Masharawi
Fotografia: Terek Ben Abdallah A.I.C., Nestor Sanz
Montaggio: Pascale Chavance
Suono: Issa Qumsyeh
Musica: Kais Sellami
Interpreti: Mohamed Bakri, Areen Omari, Nour Zoubi
Formato: 35 mm
Durata: 70 min.
Versione originale: Arabo
Produzione: CineTeleFilms; Sweetwater Pictures, Cinema Production Center

Distribuzione
Fortissimo Film: tel: +31 206273215; courtney@fortissimo.nl; frederique@fortissimo.nl

Premi
MedFilm Festival, Roma 2008 (Premio Miglior Film); Festival di Cartagine 2008 (Tanit d'Argento e Premio Miglior Attore), Middle East International Film Festival 2008 (Best Artistic Contribution), Festival International du Film d'Amiens 2008 (Premio Amiens Métropole), Cairo International Film Festival (Premio Miglior Film Arabo e Miglior Sceneggiatura)

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Judge Abu Laila is forced to become a taxi driver when the government runs out of money to pay for his wages. On the day of his daughter Laila¡¦s seventh birthday, his wife insists that he needs be home early with a present and a cake. Abu Laila has nothing else on his mind than completing this mission. But the daily life in Palestine is a bit chaotic and takes him in many other directions before he gets home.

Focusing on a normal day in Ramalla and the relationship between a father and a daughter, director Rashid Masharawi sculptures out a wry comedy with political overtones in Laila's Birthday.
Director: Rashid Masharawi
Screenplay: Rashid Masharawi
Cast: Mohammed Bakri, Areen Omari, Nour Zoubi
Country: Palestina, Tunisia, Netherlands
Year: 2008
Duration: 71'
Producer: Mohamed Habib Attia,Peter Van Vogelpoel, Rashid Masharawi
Photography: Tarek Ben Abdallah, Nestor Sanz
Editing: Pascal Chavance
Music: Kais Sellami




Rashid Masharawi was born and raised in the Shati refugee camp, Gaza Strip, and is a self-taught filmmaker. In 1996 he founded the Cinema Production and Distribution Center (CPC), which offers workshops to young Palestinian filmmakers. The CPC also initiated the Mobile Cinema Project, which brings screenings to refugee camps. His credits as director include Curfew (1993), Haifa (1996), Ticket to Jerusalem (2002), En direct de Palestine (2002), Arafat, mon frère (2005), Attente (2005) and Laila's Birthday (2008).