The President's Cake

In Hasan Hadi’s absorbing debut, a schoolgirl is chosen to bake a cake to celebrate Saddam Hussein’s birthday, a challenge riddled with danger.

Lamia is selected to bake a cake for her school to celebrate the President’s birthday. Though considered a great honour, resources are scarce. With the threat of imprisonment - or worse - if she fails, she sets off with a shopping list to track down the ingredients.

Hasan Hadi’s debut is a captivating portrait of life under dictatorship, told through the unfiltered eyes of a young girl living in 1990s Iraq, a country stifled by Hussein's presidency and squeezed by international sanctions. Hadi navigates between comedy and tragedy, painting those suffering under dictatorship with warmth and vibrancy, despite the regime's cold brutality. Shot on location, Hadi’s debut marks the first Iraqi film to feature at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, and was awarded the prestigious Camera d’Or.