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The President's Cake

Play trailer Poster for The President's Cake 2025 1h 45m Drama History Play Trailer Watchlist
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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.

Critics Reviews

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Peter Howell Toronto Star Luminous lensing helps lift this portrait of desperate lives under a brutal, corrupt regime. Sep 12, 2025 Full Review Tomris Laffly Variety While “The President’s Cake” mostly plays like a genial fairy tale, with superbly balanced humor and drama, Hadi is still unsparing about the ills of patriarchal society. It is a compassionate and winsome debut, packed with an unassuming punch. Jun 10, 2025 Full Review Isaac Feldberg RogerEbert.com This detail-rich and tremendously moving moral fable uncovers harsh realities in Iraqi society without departing from the earnest perspective of its knee-high protagonist, and without diminishing the dignity or value of her hopes and dreams. May 26, 2025 Full Review William Mullally The National (UAE) The film’s quiet argument is unmistakable: children always pay the highest price for the politics they never chose, and a society that fails them inevitably shapes them in ways they cannot escape. Rated: 4/5 Nov 24, 2025 Full Review Frank J. Avella The Contending The Presidents Cake has moments of great sadness, but it is also a keen satire with some hilarious bits that deflect from the little protagonist’s impossible situation. Rated: B+ Nov 22, 2025 Full Review Brian Susbielles InSession Film In his directorial debut, writer/director Hasan Hadi brings us back into his childhood and makes a tragicomedy from such horrid circumstances. Rated: B+ Nov 8, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

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Hasan Hadi

Director

Baneen Ahmad Nayyef

Actor

Sajad Mohamad Qasem

Actor

Waheed Thabet Khreibat

Actor

Rahim AlHaj

Actor

Hasan Hadi

Screenwriter
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The President's Cake

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Movie Info

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
Production Co
TPC Film
Genre
Drama, History
Original Language
Arabic
Runtime
1h 45m