Inspired by childhood memories of 1990s Iraq under Saddam Hussein, The President’s Cake tells a story of a young girl’s wit and imagination to prepare a cake for the Iraqi president’s birthday.
It has been selected as the Iraqi entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.
Shot on location in Iraq with nonprofessional actors, the film stars Banin Ahmad Nayef as Lamia, Sajad Mohamad Wasem as Saeed, and Waheed Thabet Kreibat as Bibi.
Written and directed by Hasan Hadi, The President’s Cake had its world premiere at Directors’ Fortnight section of Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first Iraqi film to ever compete at the festival, and where it won the People’s Choice Award and Camera d’OR. Most recently, the film won the award for Best Narrative Feature at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in select theaters on February 6th, 2026 before expanding nationwide on February 27th, 2026.
Set in 1990, nine-year-old Lamia lives with her grandmother Bibi and her beloved cockerel Hindi in Iraq’s Mesopotamian marshes. Harsh international sanctions have sent basic living costs skyrocketing; but even though his people are hungry, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein still demands that the nation celebrate his birthday, replete with a lavish cake. Assigned to bake such a cake for her local school – with severe consequences on offer if she fails – Lamia teams up with her pal Saeed to undertake an odyssey of procuring flour, eggs and sugar in a place where they’re in desperately short supply.
Watch the first trailer for The President’s Cake.
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