Happy Birthday to Her Releases Official Film Trailer and Character Stills
November 14, 2026 (Toronto, Canada) — Experimental art film Happy Birthday to Her has unveiled its official trailer and a set of character stills. Primarily lensed in Richmond Hill and other filming locations across Toronto, Canada, the project marks the second experimental art film by award‑winning filmmaker MAO Yu Lynn Yuan and production banner FANIQUE to centre gender equity themes, adopting a fantasy genre for this instalment. It co-stars Tia Andriani as adult Sean, Fiona Short as teenage Sean, and Gail Bevilacqua as Selen. The film is expected to be screened at international film festivals in 2027, with the official premiere date to be announced in due course.
Centred on three generations of women — the elder, middle‑aged, and youth cohorts — the film integrates observational natural-history wildlife footage within its fantasy artistic sequences. Under the guidance of specialists at a professional butterfly breeding farm, writer-director MAO Yu Lynn Yuan spent months breeding and nurturing butterflies, thoroughly documenting their full metamorphic cycle from eggs and larvae to pupae and adult butterflies. Selected footage of butterfly transformation is incorporated into the film’s artistic segments as a visual metaphor illustrating women’s journeys of overcoming self-imposed limitations. It also offers an abstract meditation on the film’s themes of life, death and rebirth.
Film Trailer, Happy Birthday to Her
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Speaking on her unique perspective as a life-cycle observer documenting butterfly metamorphosis for the film, MAO Yu Lynn Yuan stated: “While nurturing these little living beings, I was struck by a plain truth: not all pupae bloom into butterflies as fairy tales foretell. Still, the power of seeing others is, per se, the power of believing in oneself.” She also remarked that the film’s creative inspiration for interwoven time and space originated from the Butterfly Dream, a renowned parable in the Eastern philosophical classic Zhuangzi.
Synopsis
At the funeral of her late aunt Selen (Gail Bevilacqua), a celebrated writer, teenage Sean (Fiona Short) inherits a copy of Selen’s personal journal. Each year on her birthday, Sean visits Selen’s memorial bench to leave birthday wishes. Years later, middle-aged Sean (Tia Andriani), a managing editor with an unfulfilled dream of being a writer, is weighed down by family obligations and torn between ideals and reality, yet she keeps returning to the bench every birthday.
Happy Birthday to Her is a fantasy experimental art film produced in the Greater Toronto Area (primarily lensed in Richmond Hill), Canada. Focusing on three generations of women and interwoven with footage capturing butterfly life cycles, the film presents psychologically nuanced temporal and spatial projections. It explores how women break free from internal constraints and build inner resilience, aligning with the core spirit of empowering women and girls under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5: Gender Equality).
Happy Birthday to Her
Director：MAO Yu Lynn Yuan
Screenwriter：MAO Yu Lynn Yuan
Producer：MAO Yu Lynn Yuan
Starring：Tia Andriani (Adult Sean), Fiona Short (Youth Sean), Gail Bevilacqua (Selen)
Genre：Fantasy (Short) / Experimental Art Film
Production Country/Region：Canada
Production Company：FANIQUE
Language：English
Release Date：2027 (TBD)
Crew
Director, Screenwriter, Producer // MAO Yu Lynn Yuan
1st Camera Assistant // Alan García
2nd Camera Assistant // Hayden Yeung
Behind-the-scene Photographer // Luke Lau
Costume Stylist & HMUA // Deveshree Shinde
Communication Coordinator // Kyle Wong
Assistant Production Manager // Neha N.
Executive Production Manager // Zander Zehong Ran
Production & PR Manager // Jennifer Lam, Mandy Lee
