Film: The president's cake

In the poverty-stricken Iraq of 1990, young Lamia receives a striking assignment: she must bake a cake for the birthday of Saddam Hoessein. But eggs, flour, and sugar are scarce, so she begins a difficult search. This tender, tragicomic odyssey shows life under an authoritarian regime through the eyes of a child. In his gripping feature film debut, writer-director Hasan Hadi follows 9-year-old Lamia, who is forced to bring a cake to school for the president's birthday celebration. Against the backdrop of poverty and food shortages, she travels from her village to the city, in search of the necessary ingredients. Her grandmother Bibi, best friend Saeed, and beloved rooster Hindi accompany her. Shot on location in Iraq with non-professional actors, this film offers an incisive and at the same time warm look at daily life under an authoritarian regime. Hasan Hadi based it on his own childhood memories of the Iraq of the nineties. The President’s Cake was awarded the Caméra d’Or for best debut film at Cannes. 106 MIN / IRAQ - UNITED STATES - QATAR / 2026 / 6+ DIRECTOR HASAN HADI CAST BANEEN AHMAD NAYYEF, RAHIM ALHAJ, SAJAD MOHAMED QASEM, WAHEED THABET KHREIBAT