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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99%

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73 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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Maxwell Rabb

Chicago Reader

Mar 9

The President’s Cake is carried by the remarkable performances of its predominantly amateur cast, especially its child actors.

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Barry Hertz

Globe and Mail

Feb 26

Shot entirely in the director’s home country with a largely amateur, untrained cast, the film blends a striking sense of street-level realism, political commentary and poetic nostalgia for the naive innocence of youth.

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Bill Goodykoontz

Arizona Republic

Feb 24

4.5/5

What’s most remarkable about the film are the performances.

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Maxance Vincent

Movies We Texted About

Mar 7

4/5

Even when Hadi stages scenes that are lighter in nature, the spectre of Hussein’s regime is still present, and the resulting feeling of unease never goes away.

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Robin Holabird

Robin Holabird

Mar 1

The film shows a society whose residents hardly realize the outrageous nature of its demands—elements that would qualify as farcical except for the serious consequences of failure.

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Ruth Maramis

FlixChatter Film Blog

Feb 28

4.5/5

A profoundly moving journey through the eyes of a 9-year-old Iraqi girl, and Nayyef is a revelation in the lead role. It’s really astounding what Hadi’s accomplished here with a limited budget and mostly unknown actors.

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Emma

Mar 5

Could have been an hour long. The good thing it shows how terrible lives are under these dictators.

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Joanne S

Feb 27

An intimate experience of Iraq under Saddam Husseins rule. Told from the perspective of two young schoolchildren, this film is heartwarming and heartbreaking.

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Matt

Feb 18

Outstanding film. The young girl was so talented I was shocked to hear it was her first film. It was both heartwarming and devastating. The rooster did a great job too.

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Matheus F

@matheusf_neto 3d

The President's Cake and The Voice of Hind Rajab are in my top 5 favorite movies of 2025. Hasan Hadi did an amazing job directing it.

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hip C

@hipCRANK Mar 6

A nine-year-old girl ventures into the big city to procure ingredients to bake a cake. Adventures ensue. Not incidental to the proceedings is the time, place and batshit craziness that this sweet story takes place in. 1990. Iraq. The Gulf War. The cake is to celebrate Saddam Hussein's birthday. The president is omnipresent, looming in framed portraits, wall murals, mirrored in every mustachioed man of authority. Quite the backdrop. Teaming up with her constant companion rooster Hindi, Lamia dashes the labyrinth streets of Baghdad in search of flour, eggs and sugar, finding a series of hustlers navigating an oppressive regime and crippling sanctions. Danger is everywhere. Undeterred, Lamia is a shining force of determination, brushing off setback after setback to deliver the president his damn cake! A story of innocence, heartbreak, warmth, perseverance and hope, staying clear of the political mayhem swirling about and the occasional bomb, "The President's Cake" is pretty tasty.

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Runa R

@RT34459259 Mar 4

It’s a harrowing film because of the reality it portrays of a dictatorship, seen through the experiences of a child. Small details scattered throughout reveal how a megalomaniac man — like all dictators — knows how to exploit the weaknesses of the human mind, how to keep the masses in ignorance, blindly idolising those who oppress them. Human crowds can become a grotesque phenomenon of brutality and ignorance, and history has shown us time and again that there is always a man who knows how to manipulate this stupidity all too well.

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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 (Strong Language|Some Suggestive Material|Smoking)
Genre: Drama, History
Original Language: Arabic
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 6, 2026, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $39.3K
Runtime: 1h 45m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)