Leaving the warm but strict family fold, college student Fifi has only just gotten a taste of independence, but her newfound freedom is already under threat. When she wakes up in the hospital after a minor accident, Fifi will quickly have to decide how much of her new life she wants her family to know. But with a suspicious and perceptive mother, some secrets are harder to keep than others. Awarded for Best Screenplay in the Horizons program at the Venice Film Festival, Happy Holidays is award-winning Palestinian director Scandi Copti’s second feature. Its directorial approach brings to mind the films of Asghar Farhadi and Robert Altman as it questions how the power and will of the state spill over into human relations, reshaping personal ties in a conservative society where everyone suffers, especially women.