HAPPY BIRTHDAY Discovery

In her remarkable debut feature, director/writer 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 Tribeca Festival. –Mimi Brody