On Valentine's night last Saturday evening, Asia and I went out with our friends Alizeh and Robbie to see Eid milad Laila (Laila's Birthday), a Palestinian film directed by Rashid Masharawi. As it was my first film of the 2009 Glasgow Film Festival, I'm glad we saw it at the Glasgow Film Theatre - it just seemed right somehow.
Filmed and set in the Occupied territories, the film tells the story of Abu Laila, a former judge forced to drive his brother-in-law's taxi because the government continues to stall on the renewal of his assignment. As he drives the yellow taxi around the city on the day of his daughter Laila's birthday, his only concerns are to buy her a present and a cake, however, this proves difficult with the amusing occurences brought about by daily life in Palestine.
Eid milad Laila is an endearingly light-hearted, sweet film that shows a very ordinary way of life in the Occupied territories, unlike that which you might see in other, more Western-influenced films. Tragedy, however, is part of that way of life and it is threaded neatly through the more humorous situations our protagonist finds himself in and these are the dominant features of the film. As he traverses the city steering clear of checkpoints, refusing passengers "wearing arms" and attempting to reunite a phone with its owner, you can't help grow quickly to like Abu Laila and his judicial insistance that rules are followed above all else.
