Egypt’s film committee has officially made up its mind: Sarah Goher’s Happy Birthday is set to carry the country’s hopes in the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th edition of the Academy Awards.
According to circulating reports, the coming-of-age drama managed to secure nine votes out of a possible 16, surpassing several other shortlisted titles to clinch the nomination slot. Starring Egyptian actress and model Nelly Karim, the feature follows Toha, an eight-year-old domestic worker who spares no effort to guarantee her best friend Nelly — the daughter of her wealthy employer — enjoys a perfect birthday. A visual exploration of the deeply-entrenched class-divides that exist in modern-day Cairo, social hierarchies are put under the microscope, and dissected to reveal how inequality permeates even the most intimate relationships, starting from childhood itself.
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The film first premiered in June at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, where it made quite a splash, taking home three major honors: Best International Narrative Feature, the Nora Ephron Award, and Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature. Riding that wave of success — and fresh off its selection as Egypt’s submission for the upcoming Academy Awards — it is also set to open the eighth edition of the El Gouna Film Festival this October.
The 98th edition of the Academy Awards will take place on March 15, 2026, inside Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, the iconic venue that has hosted the ceremony annually since 2002.
Other countries from the region have also begun confirming which features will represent them at the forthcoming iteration of the Oscars. Among the confirmed selections are Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania, Palestine’s Palestine 36 by Annemarie Jacir, Morocco’s Calle Málaga by Maryam Touzani, Lebanon’s Arzé by Mira Shaib, Iraq’s The President’s Cake by Hasan Hadi, and Jordan’s All That’s Left of You by Cherien Dabis.
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