The President's Cake

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The President's Cake

PG-13

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1h 45m

Drama

History

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43 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

While people across 1990's Iraq struggle to survive, 9-year old Lamia has been selected to prepare a cake to celebrate the President's birthday. In a landscape of fear and scarcity, where basic ingredients are nearly impossible to find, Lamia sets out on a determined journey throughout the big city in search of eggs, flour, and sugar. Accompanied by her grandmother, her loyal friend Saeed, and her pet rooster Hindi, she navigates vendors and police officers along the way.

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Critics Consensus

A tenderly crafted, often devastating portrait of childhood in rural Iraq, The President's Cake vividly brings to life its morally complex world through richly drawn characters and intimate storytelling.

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Matt Zoller Seitz

RogerEbert.com

17h

3.5/4

It is notable for its unvarnished, affecting performances; its digitally shot yet eerily film-like cinematography, which packs a mural’s worth of information into deep-focus, very wide frames with rounded edges.

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Peter Rainer

Christian Science Monitor

4d

4.5/5

Hadi’s unsentimental treatment of his key players is especially sensitive. These are no lovable Hollywood tykes. Their street smarts are integral to their being.

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Ben Kenigsberg

New York Times

4d

The President’s Cake is only superficially a story of youthful resilience. The deprivations and darkness of the dictatorship, which immiserates the Iraqi people even as it demands performative displays of happiness, lurk around every corner.

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Andrew Murray

The Upcoming

11h

4/5

The President’s Cake is a fiercely powerful work of cinema. By framing the corruption and poverty of Hussein’s oppressive reign through the lens of a childhood adventure, Hadi creates something that is as whimsical as it is devastating.

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Elsa Fernández-Santos

El Pais (Spain)

2d

... The President's Cake possesses has strength in its perspective and in many of its images...[Full review in Spanish]

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Laura Pérez

Fotogramas

2d

4/5

...a beautiful and flawless film, with exquisite shots meticulously crafted to convey the information that provides context to the story and depth to the characters. [Full review in Spanish]

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Roy J

3h

Makes you rethink about America's economic sanctions. These sanctions have no impact on the evil dictators, but are actually harming the people that are already opressed

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Hasan Hadi

Director

Baneen Ahmad Nayyef

Lamia

Sajad Mohamad Qasem

Saeed

Waheed Thabet Khreibat

Bibi

Rahim AlHaj

Jasim

Hasan Hadi

Screenwriter

The President's Cake: Teaser Trailer

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Synopsis

While people across 1990's Iraq struggle to survive, 9-year old Lamia has been selected to prepare a cake to celebrate the President's birthday. In a landscape of fear and scarcity, where basic ingredients are nearly impossible to find, Lamia sets out on a determined journey throughout the big city in search of eggs, flour, and sugar. Accompanied by her grandmother, her loyal friend Saeed, and her pet rooster Hindi, she navigates vendors and police officers along the way.

Director: Hasan Hadi
Producer: Leah Chen Baker
Screenwriter: Hasan Hadi, Eric Roth
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: TPC Film
Rating: PG-13 (Smoking|Strong Language|Some Suggestive Material)
Genre: Drama, History
Original Language: Arabic
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 6, 2026, Limited
Runtime: 1h 45m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)