Set on the sun-soaked streets of modern-day Kabul, Kabuli Kid displays a marvelous sense of comic restraint in the unfolding of a neorealist fable, offering a detailed glimpse into Afghanistan by lovingly presenting life as it is lived. Wry but ultimately optimistic Khaled spends his days driving a taxi through Kabul's chaotic and war-torn terrain, griping about his city's shortcomings to his clients. Through it all, he struggles to provide for his rather large family (comprising only daughters, much to his shame). Shortly after making this very point to his latest fare, an anonymous, completely veiled woman, he discovers her infant son abandoned in the back of his cab. Refusing to believe that any mother could simply abandon a child, Khaled reluctantly engages in a fruitless search to return the baby that no one seems to want. With a well-honed survival instinct at odds with his kind-hearted nature, Khaled attempts to relieve himself of his burden while increasingly assuming responsibility for the care of the child. In the midst of this high-stakes premise, spanning thirty-six hours, first-time fiction filmmaker Barmak Akram wisely chooses to focus on the simple yet delicate details of daily life, gently grounding the film in a sense of local authenticity. Deftly capturing elements of screwball scenario through a naturalistic lens, Kabuli Kid crafts a richly human portrait of a complex city.