Happy Birthday, Mr. Mograbi

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Documentary

Yom Huledet Same'ach, Mar Mograbi examines the predicaments of a documentary filmmaker who finds himself torn between conflicting situations. Avi Mograbi is hired by a TV producer to make a film about the celebrations surrounding Israel's 50th anniversary. But the director is more tuned to the media than his commitment to the project.

When an unemployment crisis breaks out, he turns to a socially engaging film, while the deadlock in the peace process prompts him to make a film about peace in the Middle East. During the rekindled Gulf crisis, he can't make anything at all.

In the meantime, a Palestinian producer asks him to make a film about the 50th anniversary of the Nakba (the catastrophe) -- the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. In the meanwhile, the director's 42nd birthday is approaching, and he would like to get some land, build a house and fulfill his individual Israeli dream.

But questions of ownership lead to violent clashes between neighbors. The last part of the film is an argument among its three narratives, each one trying to overcome the others.

The film ends with Israeli's celebrating Independence Day and shooting Palestinian protesters, while Palestinians in the Occupied Territories mark the Al Nakba, with Mograbi sitting at home and finishing his three parallel stories.