HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Special Features: 2026 Oscar® Selection, Egypt
In her remarkable debut feature, writer/director Sarah Goher turns a sharply observant lens on class and society in modern Cairo. Eight-year-old Toha — the child maid of an upper middle-class family — navigates a world not built for her as she forges an unlikely bond with her employer’s daughter Nelly. When Nelly’s ninth birthday approaches, Toha — never having celebrated her own — pours herself into making the party perfect. As lines blur between affection and authority in the dynamic between Toha and the family, Goher delicately examines the contradictions that surface when human connection threatens to upend the status quo. Anchored by a central performance from young newcomer Doha Ramadan, HAPPY BIRTHDAY won the Best International Film, Best International Screenplay and the Nora Ephron Award at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) DIR/SCR Sarah Goher; SCR Mohamed Diab; PROD Ahmed El Desouky, Ahmed Badawy, Ahmed Abbas, Jamie Foxx, Datari Turner. Egypt, 2025, color, 91 min. In Arabic with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 91 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, March 20, 2026
Genre: Drama
