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Film Festivals: The President's Cake (2025) by Hasan Hadi: The Child's Perilous Quest for a Birthday Treat

A Historic Story of Survival

This acclaimed debut film is set in 1990s Iraq during the UN sanctions, focusing on 9-year-old Lamia's mandatory and dangerous mission to bake President Saddam Hussein's birthday cake despite severe poverty and ingredient scarcity.

  • Content Summary: The film is a tragicomic adventure following Lamia's resourceful journey from the marshlands to the city to find food supplies, offering a humanistic, child-centered view of life under an authoritarian regime.

  • Movie Trend: It follows Child-Centered Neorealism, using a child's simple quest to explore complex political hardship, drawing comparisons to the work of masters like Abbas Kiarostami.

  • Social Trend: It participates in the social trend of Reclaiming National Narratives Post-Conflict, shifting focus from large-scale events to the intimate, human cost of political upheaval on citizens.

  • Director Info: Directed by debut feature filmmaker Hasan Hadi, an Iraqi writer/director who drew on his own childhood experiences and filmed entirely in Iraq with mostly non-professional actors.

  • Major Awards: A historic win at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, securing both the Caméra d'Or (Best First Feature) and the Directors' Fortnight Audience Award. It is also Iraq's entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.


Why It's Trending: A Historic Iraqi Debut with Universal Resonance


The film is currently trending due to its compelling historical premise, its status as the first Iraqi film to win a top prize at Cannes, and the significant acclaim received by first-time director Hasan Hadi.

  • Synopsis & Setting: The story is set in 1990s Iraq under Saddam Hussein's regime, a period of crippling UN-backed economic sanctions. It centers on nine-year-old Lamia who is compelled to bake the President's birthday cake despite the near-impossibility of finding ingredients, making her quest a matter of survival.

  • Major Awards: The film made history by winning the Caméra d'Or (Best First Feature) and the Directors' Fortnight Audience Award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

  • Director: It is the celebrated feature debut of Iraqi writer/director Hasan Hadi.

Why to Watch This Movie: A Journey of Resilience

The film is a must-watch for its masterful balancing of tone, its unique historical viewpoint, and the captivating central performance by its young lead, providing a moving story of human spirit under duress.

  • Exceptional Central Performance: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef as Lamia delivers a captivating performance, conveying an impressive mix of "expressive joy and heartbreaking sadness, of frustration and determination."

  • Masterful Tone Balancing: Director Hasan Hadi successfully blends humor and absurdism with the harsh realism of life under an oppressive regime, creating a truly unique tragicomic adventure.

  • Unique Historical Lens: It offers a rare, child-centric perspective on the 1990s Iraqi sanctions era, a period of history seldom explored in cinema, highlighting themes of loyalty and innocence.

  • Strong Visuals: The cinematography beautifully contrasts the serene, dreamlike world of the Mesopotamian Marshes with the harsh, bustling reality of the city.

Where to watch (Industry professionals): https://pro.festivalscope.com/film/the-presidents-cake

What Movie Trend Is Followed?: Child-Centered Neorealism

The film follows the tradition of child-centered, humanist dramas, using a child's simple quest to expose complex political and social hardships.

This is the trend of child-centered, humanist drama, often associated with Iranian New Wave cinema. Here, the challenging, often arduous, journey of a child serves as a poignant metaphor for the wider political and social struggles of their community or nation, focusing on the individual's resilience against an overwhelming, often absurd, system.

Movie Plot: A High-Stakes Scavenger Hunt

The plot centers on a life-threatening search for cake ingredients after Lamia is drawn to perform a mandatory act of loyalty to the dictator.

  • The Compulsory Task: Nine-year-old Lamia is selected by her school to bake the birthday cake for President Saddam Hussein, a task that cannot be refused due to fear of severe punishment (imprisonment or death).

  • The Journey Begins: Lamia and her grandmother, Bibi, who are extremely poor and live in the marshlands, embark on a journey to the bustling city of Baghdad to find the scarce and expensive ingredients (flour, eggs, sugar).

  • Separation and Alliance: Lamia is separated from her grandmother in the city but continues her mission with her classmate, Saeed. She must use a family heirloom (her father’s watch) to barter for the goods.

  • Encountering Society's Spectrum: The children navigate the city streets, encountering a full spectrum of humanity—from kindness to corruption and exploitation—as they pursue their ludicrous, yet terrifyingly important, mission.

Implied Movie Trend: The narrative fits squarely into child-centered neorealist cinema, utilizing a child's pure motivation to navigate a deeply flawed adult world.

Director's Vision: Grounded Realism Meets Fable-Like Narrative

Hasan Hadi's vision was to create an authentic, humanistic story rooted in his personal experience, deliberately using non-professional actors and shooting on location to capture the truth of the 1990s era.

  • Personal Inspiration: The film is directly inspired by Hadi's own childhood experiences living through the sanctions era, making the struggles of Lamia and her classmates deeply personal and authentic.

  • Authenticity Over Politics: Hadi insisted on filming entirely in Iraq, particularly in the marshlands, and using mostly untrained actors to ensure a raw, unfiltered depiction of the 1990s—an era whose cultural landscape he felt was demolished.

  • Human-Centered Narrative: He deliberately kept the overt political imagery in the background, choosing to focus on the relationships and dynamics between the characters, particularly from the non-political, humanistic perspective of a child.

Themes: Survival, Authority, and Lost Innocence

The film profoundly explores the tension between mandatory celebration and devastating scarcity, revealing the harsh realities of life under an authoritarian state.

  • Survival Under Scarcity: The film highlights the absurdity and cruelty of a regime demanding celebration when its citizens face extreme poverty and food shortages (rations were sometimes limited to one egg per family) due to UN sanctions.

  • Authority and Fear: It confronts the pervasive fear and oppression under Saddam Hussein's rule, where refusing an assignment like the cake meant risking severe consequences, including denunciation or imprisonment.

  • Innocence vs. Reality (Coming-of-Age): Lamia’s journey is a cruel coming-of-age tale, as her determined quest forces her to confront the desperate, corrupt, and dangerous "underbelly" of a society fractured by war and sanctions.

  • Resourcefulness and Hope: Despite the bleak setting, the film celebrates the resourcefulness, friendship, and resilience of the Iraqi people, particularly the children, as they seek out small moments of joy and purpose.

Key Success Factors: Festival Acclaim and Authentic Execution

The film's success is due to its immediate and overwhelming festival recognition, coupled with the director’s commitment to an authentic and emotionally resonant execution.

  • Festival Buzz: Winning both the Caméra d'Or and the Directors' Fortnight Audience Award at Cannes provided instant critical validation and international visibility.

  • Strong Lead Performance: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef's captivating debut performance provides the necessary emotional anchor, making the high-stakes quest relatable and compelling.

  • Meticulous World-Building: The meticulous recreation of 1990s Iraq, achieved through on-location filming, lends an undeniable historical authenticity and sense of time and place.

  • Broad Appeal: The simple, emotionally resonant premise—a child's desperate effort to bake a cake—is universally accessible while simultaneously offering a deep dive into complex political history.

Awards and Nominations: Historic Cannes Success

The film has secured 9 wins & 8 nominations in total. Its most significant achievements include:

  • Cannes Film Festival 2025: Winner of the Caméra d'Or (Best First Feature) and the Directors' Fortnight Audience Award.

  • Miskolc International Film Festival: Won the CICAE Jury Award, FIPRESCI Jury Award for Best International Film, and the International Ecumenical Jury Award.

  • It was selected as the Iraqi entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

Critics' Reception: A Tragicomic Gem

Critics largely praised the film for its balance of tone and the compelling authenticity of its performances and setting.

  • The Hollywood Reporter: Called the film a "tragicomic gem," praising director Hadi's "fluent energy" and the strong acting.

  • Alliance of Women Film Journalists: Highlighted the lead performances, calling Baneen Ahmed Nayyef's portrayal of Lamia "a treasure of expressive joy and heartbreaking sadness" and Waheed Thabet Khreibat's grandmother role "a subdued, wonderful performance."

  • Contention on Representation: One critical voice from Jacobin suggested the film, while entertaining, might rehearse known stereotypes and "corresponds to little that is real" for those knowledgeable about Iraq.

Reviews: A 10/10 Masterpiece

User reviews show extremely high emotional engagement and appreciation for the film's narrative and quality.

  • ha-50418: Gave a 10/10 score, calling it a "Masterpiece" and an "experience" with a "powerful blend of storytelling, character development, visual quality, and emotional depth."

  • 0U: Praised the movie as a "beautifully shot and acted" film with a "keen sense of time and place" that makes for an "exhilarating adventure."

Release Dates

  • Theatrical Release Date: February 4, 2026 (France).

  • Release Date on Streaming: Not yet provided.

What Movie Trend Film Is Following: Child-Centered Neorealism

The film follows the trend of child-centered, humanist drama, where the simple, often arduous, journey of a child serves as a poignant metaphor for the wider political and social struggles of their community or nation.

What Big Social Trend Is Following: Reclaiming National Narratives Post-Conflict

The film is part of a social trend where artists from nations affected by conflict or authoritarianism are reclaiming their national narrative. This trend focuses on the intimate, human cost of political upheaval on ordinary citizens, especially children, offering a necessary counter-narrative to external media portrayals.

What Consumer Trend Is Following: The Rise of Global Arthouse Distribution

The film taps into the consumer trend of a growing appetite for diverse, award-winning international arthouse cinema. Its acquisition by Sony Pictures Classics indicates strong consumer demand for high-quality, critically acclaimed non-English language films achieving breakthrough success at top-tier festivals.

Final Verdict: A Triumphant Debut

The President's Cake is a highly acclaimed and historically significant debut feature from Iraq, masterfully blending tragicomedy with a deeply human story of a young girl's impossible mission under a brutal regime. Its critical success and sensitive execution make it a must-see piece of contemporary world cinema.

Key Trend Highlighted: The film showcases the emergence of historically significant, critically successful Iraqi cinema breaking through the global festival circuit. Key Insight: The core strength of the movie lies in framing massive political hardship through the intensely personal, relatable goal of a nine-year-old child.

Similar Movies: Tales of Childhood Under Duress

These films share thematic or stylistic similarities with The President's Cake, focusing on children navigating difficult or politically charged circumstances with resilience.

  • The Bicycle Thieves (1948): A classic of Italian Neorealism, sharing the focus on poverty and a desperate quest in a difficult urban setting.

  • Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987): Abbas Kiarostami's film, embodying the child-centered, neorealist style.

  • Capernaum (2018): A powerful Lebanese drama focusing on a young boy's struggle for survival in poverty-stricken Beirut.


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