It’s 1990 and Iraq is at war. Extreme poverty is on the rise; there are shortages of medicine and food. Despite the circumstances, it’s still required that all Iraqis celebrate the president’s birthday, or face the consequences. Nine-year-old Lamia lives in the historic marshes with her spirited grandmother, Bibi. Before school, Bibi teaches Lamia clever tricks to avoid being chosen for the president's cake. However, when Musa, the authoritative teacher, calls Lamia's name for the unenviable task of baking the birthday cake for her class she has no choice but to accept.
“I lived in this village that has all the houses floating on water or built on water. We go to school by a boat, we visit friends by a boat. At night, we only have this kind of lighting, so the village will look like stars in a dark night. It is like a fairy tale situation /…/. No one expects that image from Iraq. They don’t know marshes exist in Iraq. Marshes are basically a desert, but full of water. /…/ People there live the same way they lived 5,000 years ago. I was very eager to show a side of Iraq that hasn’t been shown so often.” (Hasan Hadi)
Hasan Hadi
An Iraqi writer/director, Hasan Hadi grew up in southern Iraq, during wartime, and over the years worked in journalism, production, and as an adjunct professor at NYU's Graduate Film Program. The President's Cake is his debut feature film.