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The President’s Cake

Mamlāket al-Qasab

Indonesian Premiere

105 minutes | 2025 | Iraq | Drama  | 🔊 Arabic

Synopsis
Sinopsis

While people across 1990s 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.    The President’s Cake, winner of the Camera d’Or and Audience Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, embodies innocence, imagination, and inner strength.

Schedule
Jadwal

Mon, 1 Dec 2025 | 14:30 | EMPIRE XXI | Studio 1
Thu, 4 Dec 2025 | 17:00 | EMPIRE XXI | Studio 1

Director's Biography
Biografi Sutradara
Hasan Hadi

Hasan Hadi

Hasan Hadi is an Iraqi writer and director. His short 'Swinnsuit' won an Oscar-qualifying award at Urbanworld and received distribution from HBO Max. Hasan's recognitions include the Tisch Dean's Fellowship, the Gotham-Marcie Bloom Fellowship, the Black Family Production Prize, the Sloan Foundation Production Award, and the BAFTA Newcomers Program. Hasan is a 2022 Sundance Institute Screenwriting and Directing Fellow and the recipient of the 2022 Sundance Institute/NHK Award and SFFILM Rainin Grant for his feature debut. He also worked as an adjunct professor at NYU's Graduate Film Program and was the recipient of Black Family Short Film Award.

Credit
Kredit
Production CompanySony Pictures Classics
ProducerLeah Chen Baker
DirectorHasan Hadi
ScriptwriterHasan Hadi
CinematographerTudor Vladimir Panduru RSC
Production DesignerAnnmarie Tecu
EditorAndu Radu
Main CastBaneen Ahmed Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheeda Thabet Khreibat, Rahim AlHaj
Director’s filmography
  • The President’s Cake (2025)
  • Ebb and Flow (2024)
  • Ricky (2023)
  • Swimsuit (2021)
Notable Achievement
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Contact[email protected]

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