The film is set in early 1990s Iraq, when the country was crippled by poverty and UN international sanctions following the invasion

of Kuwait. Nine-year old Lamia lives in poverty with her ailing grandmother, eking out an existence in a remote village in the

Mesopotamian marshlands. 

 

When Lamia’s name is picked out in the class draw, she is faced with the ‘honour’ - and the exceptionally daunting challenge - of baking a cake for her school’s mandatory celebration of Saddam Hussein’s birthday. Her grandmother cannot afford the ingredients and so, together with Lamia’s young friend and her pet rooster, they set off for the city to try and somehow source the ingredients, in the certain knowledge that Lamia will face punishment should she fail.

 

The film is not based on one specific individual's true story, but it is deeply grounded in real history. Under Saddam Hussein's regime, schools and institutions were legally required to host lavish celebrations for the dictator's birthday. As a

result of the UN-backed sanctions, food and

basic goods were incredibly scarce, with eggs, flour and sugar regarded as luxury items. The demand for a pristine birthday cake was thus a perilous task for impoverished families, given

that a failure to deliver could result in severe punishments for the child and their family.

Indeed, the writer and director, Hassan

Hadi, drew upon memories of his own fearful childhood in Iraq, including the memory of a friend and classmate who failed to produce a

cake and, as a result, was expelled and forced to join Saddam’s child army.

Part fairy tale and part moral fable, the film undergoes several tonal shifts, skilfully navigating between the comic, the charming and the

tragic, providing a child’s eye view of a brutal dictatorship and the effect that the crippling

UN sanctions had on the Iraqi people. 

 

Like a number of other recent features, The President's Cake benefits from fine performances from the children, both of whom are - unsurprisingly, given the absence of any drama schools in Iraq - completely untrained actors. 

 

The film premiered in 2025 at Cannes in the Directors’ Fortnight, winning both the Audience Award and the Caméra d’Or for the best first feature. It went on to make history as the first

ever Iraqi film to be shortlisted for the Best International Feature Oscar, although it did not ultimately secure a final nomination. It is, in addition, only the second ever Iraqi film screened by RFS, following Our River, Our Sky, which was screened in May 2024 as part of Season 60.

 

Peter Maguire