The President’s Cake

IRAQ, 2026. Directed by Hasan Hadi.

RELEASE DATE: 13 February 2026 (UK); T.B.C. elsewhere.

Set in 1990s Iraq, The President’s Cake (مملكة القصب) is a poignant story perfectly illustrating the domino effect of politics on ordinary people. Directed by Hasan Hadi, it shows how a president’s whim and a country’s economic state end up causing turmoil in the life of a little girl.

The protagonist is Lamia, a 9-year-old who lives in the marshes of southern Iraq with her grandmother and a pet rooster. The president’s birthday is approaching and it is customary for celebrations to be observed nationwide. Lamia’s school expects students to actively participate in organising a special event on the day. To her dismay, when the teacher assigns different tasks to the children, Lamia is told that she is in charge of preparing a birthday cake. Considering the strict embargo and food shortages, this apparently small task turns into a herculean effort, setting off a quest full of perils. Civic duty turns into deep anxiety and stress.

Virtually penniless, Lamia and her grandmother travel to Baghdad in order to procure the required ingredients. As the young girl goes about her mission she ends up witnessing, in Dickensian fashion, the dark side of human behaviour. She sees that most people are possessed by corruption and greed, or stricken by poverty. It doesn’t take long for the bigger picture to emerge: a strict regime generates scarcity, which affects the social system and then seeps into the domestic sphere. In this vicious circle, criminal acts and desperation feed into each other indefinitely.

The film’s wisest move is to talk about politics and survival without depicting violence, heroics, or melodrama. Rather than political, military or intellectual figures, Hadi chooses to sketch the political landscape of the country through the eyes of an ordinary little girl. The choice to zoom in on a child – a voiceless, invisible citizen – and a rooster, who is equally defenceless, is an invitation to change perspective, to notice those most vulnerable. 

The plot gradually ramps up the emotional stakes while an undercurrent of irony softens the sense of dread, which is dominant. This creates balance in the narrative tone. As for the camera work, it conveys the protagonist’s lack of agency through observational, lingering shots. There’s a textured quality that makes scenes appear fable-like, with natural light, haze and dust bringing the environment to life. Similarly, the musical score resists spectacle and favours subtlety and intimacy: it creates space for tension, highlighting Lamia’s vulnerability. 

The President’s Cake is a genuine, touching and powerful tale of adaptability and resilience. It denounces a world that demands blind loyalty from its citizens before providing safety or hope.