Happy Birthday

In this debut feature, 8-year-old Toha – a bright and devoted maid in a wealthy Cairo household – goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that her best friend Nelly, the daughter of her employer, has the perfect birthday celebration. Moving fluidly between the children’s intimate bond and the rigid hierarchies that shape their world, Happy Birthday offers a tender, devastating portrait of classism in modern-day Cairo.

Egypt’s official submission to the 2025 Academy Awards, Happy Birthday captures the fragile space where childhood innocence collides with social reality. What begins as a simple quest to save a party gradually reveals the invisible lines that separate playmate from servant in this Tribeca Film Festival award winner.