Laila's Birthday(2009)

Two 10-year-old girls, one Palestinian and one Israeli, recount their daily lives under bombardment in the West Bank. Two poignant perspectives on the same conflict.

In the wake of Israel's 2006 bombardment of Lebanon, a determined woman finds her way into the country convincing a taxi driver to take a risky journey around the scarred region in search of her sister and her son.

During US invasion of Iraq some illegal migrants are waiting to get back home to India. As one such family prepares to celebrate the 6th birthday of their youngest member Chintu, their kind-hearted Iraqi landlord lends them a helping hand.

A late night mini-cab driver's feeling paranoid and twitchy in this contemporary London noir starring Asim Chaudhry. Is sleep deprivation playing tricks on Shakil, or has he been sold out?

Chronicle of a Disappearance unfolds in a series of seemingly unconnected cinematic tableaux, each of them focused on incidents or characters which seldom reappear later in the film. Among the many unrelated scenes, there is a Palestinian actress struggling to find an apartment in West Jerusalem, the owner of the Holy Land souvenir shop preparing merchandise for incoming Japanese tourists, a group of old women gossiping about their relatives, and an Israeli police van which screeches to a halt so several heavily armed soldiers can get off the car and urinate.

A Palestinian seeks Israeli permission to waive curfew to give his son a fine wedding. The military governor's condition is that he and his officers attend. The groom berates his father for agreeing. Women ritually prepare the bride; men prepare the groom. Guests gather. The Arab youths plot violence. One Israeli officer swoons in the heat and Arab women take her into the cool house. A thoroughbred gets loose and runs to a mined field; soldiers and Arabs must cooperate to rescue it. As darkness falls, tensions between army and villagers rise, and the groom's wedding-night anger and impotence threaten family dignity and honor. Can cool heads prevail?

A lonely middle-aged woman dines alone in a Chinese restaurant on her birthday. She pays close attention to the other patrons, imagining their relationships and personal situations. She remembers her past lovers and child, and broods on her bitter sense of loss and loneliness. In an unthinking moment, she announces to the waitress that it is her birthday, and the entire social dynamic in the restaurant is altered. An intensely moving, bittersweet and realistic look at emotional loss and disconnection.

Three friends drive through the mountains looking for a community of Palestinians they've only ever heard about.

In Alexandria, in 1938, Darley, a young British schoolmaster and poet, makes friends through Pursewarden, the British consular officer, with Justine, the beautiful and mysterious wife of a Coptic banker. He observes the affairs of her heart and incidentally discovers that she is involved in a plot against the British, meant to arm the Jewish underground in Palestine. The plot finally fails, Justine is sent to jail and Darley decides to return to England.

A woman taking a cab ride from JFK airport engages in a conversation with the driver about the important relationships in their lives.

Ivan is old Russia: thick, dour, hard-working, often brutish; he misses Communism. He drives a taxi and one night meets Alexi, a new Russian, a musician, an alcoholic, irresponsible. Alexi stiffs Ivan for the fare, so Ivan tracks him down and a love-hate relationship ensues. When Alexi lets the bath water run over in Ivan's flat and Ivan must pay 500 rubles for repairs, he tries to force Alexi into day labor to repay him. It's hopeless. Then, suddenly, Alexi is discovered, goes on a jazz tour of America, becomes a celebrity, and returns in triumph. Ivan longs to renew the friendship, and it looks as if he may get what he wants.

A charming racketeer seduces the DA's stepdaughter for revenge, then falls in love.