The President’s Cake

While the people of Iraq in the 1990s struggle to survive amid war and food shortages, Saddam Hussein demands that every school in the country bake a cake to celebrate his birthday. Nine-year-old Lamia is tasked with bringing a cake to school for the compulsory presidential celebration. Against a backdrop of poverty and scarcity, she travels from the countryside to the city in search of the necessary ingredients.

The feature debut of Iraqi journalist and filmmaker Hasan Hadi is a tender, tragicomic odyssey about life under an authoritarian regime, seen through the eyes of a child. The film was shot on location in Iraq with non-professional actors and is inspired by Hadi’s childhood memories of 1990s Iraq under Saddam Hussein. At Cannes, the film was awarded the Caméra d’Or for Best First Feature.