The President's Cake

The first ever film from Iraq to be screened at Cannes – and winner both of an Audience Award and Camera d'Or – The President's Cake is an absolute joy.

While people across 1990's Iraq struggle to survive, 9-year old Lamia (a luminous performance from Banin Ahmad Nayef) 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 draws on her resourcefulness to tackle the obstacles in her path.

"This detail-rich and tremendously moving moral fable uncovers harsh realities in Iraqi society without departing from the earnest perspective of its knee-high protagonist, and without diminishing the dignity or value of her hopes and dreams." RogerEbert.com