Special Presentations
The President’s Cake
It’s “draw day” across Iraq in this Cannes Film Festival Camera d’Or and Director’s Fortnight Audience Award winner, the time when schools select students for the honor of bringing items to their mandatory local celebrations of President Saddam Hussein’s birthday. Nine-year-old Lamia lives with her spirited grandmother, Bibi, who teaches Lamia clever tricks to avoid being chosen. When authoritative teacher Musa calls Lamia’s name for the most challenging task — the birthday cake — she has no choice but to accept, as refusing could mean imprisonment or even death. A Sony Pictures Classics release.
A Q&A with director and writer Hasan Hadi immediately follows the screening.
Southeast premiere
2026 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film Official Selection — Iraq
Presented in Arabic with English subtitles.
DIRECTOR
Hasan Hadi
PRODUCER
Leah Chen Baker
WRITER
Hasan Hadi
CAST
Baneen Ahmed
Nayyef Sajad
Mohammad Qasem
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Hasan Hadi is an Iraqi writer, editor, and director based in Baghdad. He directed the short film Swimsuit and edited the shorts The Trees, Me & Aydarous, Eden, and Twenty. His debut feature, The President’s Cake, won the Camera d’Or and the Director’s Fortnight Audience Award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.