The President’s Cake

Description

Iraq in the early 1990s, the final phase of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship. Nine-year-old Lamia lives with her grandmother Bibi in a hut in the marshes of southern Iraq. As Saddam Hussein's birthday approaches, the schoolchildren must not only recite the usual praise poems for the dictator but also participate in a raffle. Each child must draw a ticket indicating what they should bring to the public celebrations for the dictator's birthday. While these are usually simple items like fruit or flowers, Lamia faces an almost insurmountable task: she must bake a cake. This proves to be an almost impossible problem, as food is hardly available and very expensive. Together with her schoolmate Saeed, Lamia embarks on a wildly surreal odyssey in search of eggs, flour, sugar, and other treasures. With its autobiographical blend of coming-of-age and family drama, Iraqi director Hasan Hadi creates a fireworks display of tragicomic moments in his debut. The film is told entirely from the girl's perspective and, through its great child duo, develops an authentic atmosphere. In Cannes, the film was awarded the Audience Award and the Caméra d’Or for best debut.

Highlights

• Audience Award and Caméra d’Or in Cannes
• Debut film by director Hasan Hadi
• Tragicomic coming-of-age story

General Information

The film "The President’s Cake" tells the story of nine-year-old Lamia, who desperately searches for ingredients for a birthday cake for Saddam Hussein in 1990s Iraq. The screening takes place at Kino Rosental in Heiden, Switzerland, and offers a unique insight into childhood during a dictatorship.

Location

Schulhausstrasse 9, 9410 Heiden, Switzerland

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