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THE PRESIDENT'S CAKE Iraq, 2025, 105 min, color

In 1990s Iraq, young Lamia (Baneen Ahmed Nayyef) lives with her ailing grandmother, Bibi (Waheeda Thabet Khreiba), eking out an existence in a remote village where the best means of travel is by meshouf, a kind of canoe. Disaster strikes when Lamia is “honoured” with bringing the cake for her school class’s mandatory celebration of Saddam Hussein’s birthday. In other circumstances, this might be an innocuous responsibility, but Bibi and Lamia can’t afford the ingredients — and the last family that didn’t comply was dragged through the streets.

 

Shot in a neorealist vein, reminiscent of Vittorio De Sica or the early works of Abbas Kiarostami, The President’s Cake offers devastating cinematic proof of Bertolt Brecht’s famous dictum: “Grub first, then ethics.”

 

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Cannes ’25 – Directors' Fortnight Audience Award, Golden Camera

Hasan Hadi

Hasan Hadi

Hasan Hadi is an Iraqi director and screenwriter whose work is marked by social realism and a strong humanist perspective. Drawing on his experience between Iraq and the United States, his films explore everyday life in post-conflict societies, where personal stories intersect with political realities. He gained international attention with his short film Swimsuit (2021) before making his feature debut with The President’s Cake (2025), a delicate blend of intimate storytelling and political allegory.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

2021 Swimsuit / short

2025 The President's Cake

DIRECTOR
Hasan Hadi
SCRIPT
Hasan Hadi
CAMERA
Tudor Vladimir Panduru
CAST
Baneen Ahmed Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheeda Thabet Khreibat, Rahim AlHaj
PRODUCERS
Leah Chen Baker
PRODUCTION
TPC Film LLC

THE PRESIDENT'S CAKE Iraq, 2025, 105 min, color

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