Special Screening and Reception: The President's Cake

Watch the Trailer

Co-presented with the Arab Gulf States Institute

Followed by a panel discussion and reception featuring treats from Muncheez.

The first Iraqi film to compete in the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious Directors’ Fortnight section, The President's Cake won both the competition’s top prize and the audience award. Set in the 1990s during the rule of Saddam Hussein, this charming tragicomedy follows nine-year-old Lamia, who is assigned by her teacher the task of making a cake—the one Iraqis were required to make for Saddam’s birthday. Lamia sets off on a picaresque journey to beg for, borrow, or steal the ingredients she needs and, in the process, meets a cross-section of her country's population, all of whom are trying their best to make the best of difficult times. “The President's Cake offers an astute, poignant story of empathy for humanity caught in the crosshairs,” writes Diane Carson for the Alliance of Women Film Journalists.

Director: Hasan Hadi. Countries: Iraq, Qatar, United States. Released: 2025. Length: 105 min. Format: DCP. Language: Arabic (Iraqi Dialect) with English subtitles.
Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics