This year’s Tribeca Film Festival featured historic wins for New York Film Academy alum and board member Mohamad Diab—and the New York Film Academy (NYFA) community had a front-row seat to witness it.
Students from NYFA were given the incredible opportunity to attend a screening of Happy Birthday, a groundbreaking film co-written and produced by NYFA alum and board member Mohamed Diab alongside his wife, the immensely talented director and co-writer Sarah Goher. The film, set in the heart of Cairo, captivated audiences and judges alike, earning three prestigious awards, a feat never before achieved by an Egyptian film at Tribeca.The 2025 Tribeca Film Festival awards for the film Happy Birthday included:
- Best International Feature
- Best International Script
- Best Female Director
The film is a tender and bold coming-of-age story. Set in Cairo, Happy Birthday follows Toha, an 8-year-old child maid who’s never had the chance to celebrate her own birthday. Determined to experience the joy of the occasion, she sets out to throw the perfect party—not for herself, but for someone else. As her bond with her employer’s daughter deepens, the narrative delicately explores themes of friendship, class, and childhood innocence in the face of social inequality.
This screening was a special opportunity to see a beautifully crafted film from the NYFA alum. Following the screening, attendees were treated to an impromptu masterclass in storytelling and filmmaking as Diab generously took time to engage with NYFA students in a NYC sidewalk Q&A session, offering candid insight into his creative process and journey through the international film landscape.
“It was a thrill to take current NYFA students to see the work of my esteemed alum premiere at Tribeca, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world!” said Crickett Rumley, Senior Director, NYFA Film Festival Department. “Mohamed [Diab] said he’d be happy to speak to students after the screening, and he more than delivered—we had a ‘flash mob film school’ on the corner of 19th and Broadway for almost an hour! What a way for him to pay it forward to the next generation of NYFA filmmakers.”
As NYFA continues to nurture the next generation of filmmakers, moments like these highlight what’s possible when creativity, community, and collaboration come together. Diab’s time and generosity to share his knowledge exemplifies the importance of mentorship, storytelling, and giving back—all core values at the heart of the NYFA experience.
Congratulations to Mohamed Diab, Sarah Goher, and the entire Happy Birthday team on a historic sweep at Tribeca, and for demonstrating the transformative power of film.