Earlier this year, first-time filmmaker Hasan Hadi arrived in Cannes, conquered the Croisette landing the coveted Caméra d’Or prize and the newly minted Directors’ Fortnight audience award that Artistic Director Julien Rejl created the year before. Riding the film festival circuit and acquired by the Sony Pictures folks, The President’s Cake is among those in the running for that first short list for the Best International Film for the Oscars.
An ode to Neorealism, based on the memories of 1990s Iraq under sanctions and authoritarian rule — we have a simple premise but the consequences for determined nine-year-old girl, Lamia could be life threatening and determining. Lamia’s quest for flour, sugar, eggs and dignity, The President’s Cake explores themes of childhood innocence and resilience, the weight of authoritarianism on daily life, and the absurdity and cruelty of coercive loyalty rituals. Hadi uses the eyes of a child to reveal the harsh moral and social fractures that come with poverty, fear, and political violence — and, at the same time, a fragile hope grounded in human decency. At the 2025 Doha Film Festival I had the chance to speak to the filmmaker about receiving the top Cannes prize from the one and only Alice Rohrwacher, about his experience at the Sundance labs and the unique synergy that we find on screen with the characters of Saeed and Lamia.
