Those who follow cinema news know that the film “Happy Birthday” by director Sarah Gohar premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in the US last May, where it won three awards for Best Film and Best Screenplay in the international competition and the Nora Ephron Award for Best Women’s Film.
They also know that the El Gouna International Film Festival announced last August, and then at a press conference a few days ago, that “Happy Birthday” will be the opening film of its upcoming edition on October 16. As cinema professionals know, festival conventions and rules dictate that the film chosen for the opening must not have been previously screened in the country hosting the festival (and sometimes not in the region, continent, or world).
** **
On the other hand, those following the selection process for Egypt’s representative film in the 2025 Oscars know that the film chosen is “Happy Birthday.” They also know that the film was added at the last minute to the list of eligible films, after the selection committee formed by the Film Professions Syndicate (the body authorized to make the selection) held its first meeting and chose a shortlist from which the film representing Egypt was to be selected at the next meeting. However, “Happy Birthday” was added and two screenings were held at the Hanager Cinema, as part of the screenings of the shortlist selected by the committee. At the time, those who expressed surprise were told that the film met the conditions, chief among them that the film had to have had a public release in its country before September 30, 2025. It was also said that the film’s production company had set its public release date for September 17, which was last Wednesday!
** **
In good faith, and assuming good intentions, the esteemed committee members, myself included, agreed to vote on the film on the condition that its producer and distributor commit to releasing it on the specified date. Of course, some committee members, myself included, suspected that the company might manipulate the rules, since we are world champions at manipulating rules, and that the September 17 screening might be “fictitious,” like a fictitious contract or a customary marriage, mere ink on paper, in the manner of: “The books are ours, the company is ours, and the screening venue is ours.” .
I recall that I and some of those present urged Mr. Musad Foda, head of the Filmmakers’ Union, to contact Mr. Ahmed Al-Desouki, the film’s producer and distributor in Egypt, to confirm this, and confirm that the public screening would be real and not just for show, and that the El Gouna Film Festival had indeed agreed to screen a film that had been released in theaters a full month before the festival. Mr. Fouda kindly contacted Mr. Desouki in our presence and conveyed our concerns about a potential problem or scandal if the rules were circumvented. As a precaution, the committee agreed to select a second film in case there was a problem with Happy Birthday. Indeed, as some of us had expected, as soon as the meeting ended and the film was selected, accusations flew that the committee and the union were favoring the film and that the screening would be nothing more than a formality. But we told ourselves that “tomorrow is another day” and “the water will tell”!
** **
Then came the long-awaited 17th, and as some feared, the company organized a “non-public” screening: just pictures of a poster and “cut” tickets sent to the union, which posted on its Facebook page a sweetened news story with pictures stating that the film was indeed being screened in one of the Arabella cinema halls in Tagamoa.
Even if we assume that this is indeed a public screening, the website Cinema.com, which provides information on every film shown in Egypt, every theater showing it, the times of each screening, and a ticket booking service for any screening, and which you can search either by film name or theater name, makes no mention of Happy Birthday. I tried searching on September 17, 18, 19, and 20 in the hope that Arabella Cinema had officially added the film to its listings, but there was no trace of it!
On the union’s Facebook page, comments poured in on the news about the film: one wrote that the screening was “a lie and a scandal and that the film wasn’t showing at all,” another wrote that the screenings were “fake” and “fake.” A third wrote that he called the cinema and was told that the film was not being shown and that the screening was “just for the Oscars.” A fourth wrote, “You crooks, you thieves!”
I don’t know what would happen if the owner of a competing film or a do-gooder informed the Oscars officials that Egypt had nominated a film that did not meet the requirements, that the screening was not “public,” and that it was not logical to screen a film as “big” in terms of production and artistry as Happy Birthday in one small, unspecified theater, without any advertising or mention of the film on Cinema.com or other websites.
** **
The company, with typical Egyptian ingenuity, decided to reap all the benefits: screening at El Gouna, Oscar nomination, and release in theaters after October 16. All of this would have been possible and easy had it not been for the rule that Oscar-nominated films must have had a public screening before September 30. I can imagine someone saying: It’s simple, guys. It’s just a matter of days, and the film is beautiful, and the committee chose it by a majority vote in the first round, and it will honor Egypt’s name in America, and God willing, it will make the shortlist, and who knows, maybe it will win an Oscar… So why are you stirring up trouble and causing problems?
All of that is great, and the film is indeed beautiful, and its makers are among the most talented artists, but unfortunately there is such a thing as rules, and there is such a thing as clear actions and clear words, not just formalities to camouflage the rules.
In short: Is the film currently showing “publicly” (“public release” in English!), meaning that it is available in multiple copies in more than one theater, with official publicity and advertisements for those screenings, and is it available for any citizen to ‘buy’ a ticket to see it, or for any skeptic to “replace doubt with certainty”?
** **
It seems that my investigation into the film reached the film’s producer, Ahmed Al-Desouki, who contacted me to confirm that the conditions were met, according to Oscar rules, which require the film to be publicly screened in only one theater for at least six consecutive days. This is what happened, for example, in Brazil last year, where the film “I’m Still Here” was screened in one theater (although I believe that the screening was indeed public and accessible, and not just a formality). Mr. Ahmed also confirmed to me that he had obtained permission from the organizers of the El Gouna Film Festival to hold a “limited” screening of the film, and that it is indeed being screened at one of the Arabella cinemas, but the cinema requires at least 20 tickets to be sold before it will hold the screening (which is of course difficult to achieve without any publicity or advertising for the film). He added that he is willing to screen the film for anyone who wants to see it.
The important thing is that words and actions are clear and that we do not open the door to deception and trickery, which could cause problems for the film and the name of the entity that selected it to represent Egypt in the Oscars competition.
