New Book about Cannes Fest, President’s Cake, The (2025): First Iraqui Film to Win the Camera d’Or

The President’s Cake
Theatrical release poster

Released in the U.S. by Sony Classics on February 6, 2026, the movie was selected as the Iraqi entry for the 2026 Best International Feature Oscar but was not among the final nominees.

The film is set in Iraq under Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and during the period of economic sanctions imposed by western countries.

Lamia, a girl of 9, must gather ingredients to bake a mandatory cake to celebrate the president’s birthday, or face punishment at school. She is poor, and lives with her grandmother Bibi and her cockerel Hindi.  Her shopping list includes flour, eggs, and sugar from Bibi, but groceries are expensive and scarce.

The old and sick Bibi takes Lamia to meet her foster mother, but the girl flees. She is joined by her friend, planning to sell her father’s watch to buy the goods. The two encounter various (mostly bad) people, but they survive.

It turns out that even the main concern of the police getting the president’s birthday.

The film is the feature directorial debut of Hasan Hadi, who co-wrote the script with Eric Roth. Roth, Marielle Heller, and Chris Columbus are among the executive producers.

An astutely tragic-comic tale, The President’s Cake was shot entirely in Iraq, using mostly untrained actors. It brings vividly to life a devastating portrait of childhood in rural Iraq, benefiting from Baneen Ahmed Nayyef’s performance as Lamia, who is equally adepy at expressing joy and sadness, frustration and determination.

It became the first film from Iraq to compete in the Directors’ Fortnight, and won the top prize in the section, the only Cannes Film Fest award voted for by audience members.

Cast

Baneen Ahmad Nayyef as Lamia

Sajad Mohamad Qasem as Saeed

Waheed Thabet Khreibat as Bibi