Streaming

Happy Birthday

About

International Narrative Competition Winner

Festival Year: 2026

Run Time: 91 Minutes

Film Type: Feature

Animated: No

Genre: Drama

Interests: Arab Cinema, Women-Centered Stories, First-Time Features

Countr(ies): Egypt

Language: Arabic

English Subtitles: Yes

Captions: Closed

TOHA, a child maid, goes against all odds to make sure her best friend NELLY, the daughter of her employer, has a birthday party in exchange for a candle to make a wish.
Caught in a pending divorce, LAILA, Nelly’s mom, is pressured by her mother to make this birthday party as a last resort to make amends with her husband.
Toha, who’s never had a birthday, spearheads the planning of Nelly’s party and becomes the driving force that allows for it to happen. In the process she bonds with Laila, the social boundaries between them blurred.
When an attempt to block Toha from attending the birthday by sending her back to her fishing village along the Nile fails, her unwelcomed presence unleashes a different side of the family. Jaded, Toha no longer understands where she exists within the classist paradigm she is subject to.