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The President's Cake

Play trailer 1:07 Poster for The President's Cake PG-13 Now Playing 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.
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The President's Cake

What to Know

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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Critics Reviews

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Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor 8h
4.5/5
Hadi’s unsentimental treatment of his key players is especially sensitive. These are no lovable Hollywood tykes. Their street smarts are integral to their being. Go to Full Review Ben Kenigsberg New York Times 9h
The President’s Cake is only superficially a story of youthful resilience. The deprivations and darkness of the dictatorship, which immiserates the Iraqi people even as it demands performative displays of happiness, lurk around every corner. Go to Full Review Peter Howell Toronto Star Sep 12
Luminous lensing helps lift this portrait of desperate lives under a brutal, corrupt regime. Go to Full Review Mike McGranaghan Aisle Seat 3d
3.5/4
Brimming with both emotion and political relevance. Go to Full Review Luis Martínez El Mundo (Spain) 6d
4/5
A dazzling exercise in true, beautiful, profound, and exciting cinema. [Full review in SPanish] Go to Full Review Philipp Engel Cinemanía (Spain) Jan 29
4/5
Adopts the point of view of a child, emphasized by the panoramic format, with a political purpose, that is, to give us a vision purified of ideological missteps from those years under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Read all reviews
The President's Cake

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Cast & Crew

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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
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The President's Cake

The President's Cake: Teaser Trailer The President's Cake: Teaser Trailer 1:07 View more videos
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The President's Cake

The President's Cake (2025) View more photos

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
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
TPC Film
Rating
PG-13 (Smoking|Strong Language|Some Suggestive Material)
Genre
Drama, History
Original Language
Arabic
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 6, 2026, Limited
Runtime
1h 45m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)