Happy Holidays

The stories of four characters intertwine in this gripping Palestinian drama about gender, generational, and cultural differences in contemporary Haifa.

Rami, a Palestinian from Haifa, must deal with his Jewish girlfriend’s change of heart about a planned abortion. His mother, Hanan, faces financial difficulties after his sister, Fifi, is involved in an accident. Miri is forced to confront her daughter’s depression while also trying to convince her sister—who is pregnant with Rami’s child—to reconsider keeping the baby. And Fifi carries a secret that could ruin the family’s reputation.

Happy Holidays premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024 and won the Aurora Award at the Tromsø International Film Festival earlier this year.

Director

Scandar Copti (b. 1975) is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist from Jaffa. His debut film Ajami (2009), co-directed with Yaron Shani, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Happy Holidays is his second feature film.

This film is part of