The President's Cake

A young girl is devastated to be chosen to bake a cake for her class, sending her on a suspenseful journey into the big city to buy ingredients her family cannot afford.

It is 1990. Iraq is occupying Kuwait, Saddam Hussein remains in power, and the country is enduring crippling economic sanctions. Today, the teacher will announce which student must bake a cake for the class to celebrate the President’s birthday – a task no family wants or can afford.

When nine‑year‑old Lamia’s name is drawn, she must embark on a high‑stakes journey into the big city to buy cake ingredients, where perils abound.

Curator’s note

Sometimes the most suspenseful films are not the ones with car chases and action heroes hanging off skyscrapers or Monument Valley, but they’re the small human stresses that we encounter in everyday life. Within the right hands, these moments can make great cinema. Writer‑director Hasan Hadi’s hands are just those.

Regional similarities aside, there are parallels to draw between The President’s Cake and films like Jafar Panahi’s The White Balloon, which look at tense dramas through the eyes of a child, shrinking the universe down so that the drama fills every corner.

The President's Cake premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival to high acclaim. It won the Audience Award and the Camera d’Or for best first‑time director and went on to be a critical darling around the world.