In 1990s Iraq, young Lamia lives with her ailing grandmother, Bibi, eking out an existence in a remote village.

Disaster strikes when Lamia is ‘honoured’ with baking the cake for her school class’s mandatory celebration of Saddam Hussein’s birthday.

In other circumstances, this might be an innocuous responsibility, but Bibi and Lamia can’t afford the ingredients, and the last family that didn’t comply was dragged through the streets.

A child’s eye view of a dictatorship, The President’s Cake skilfully navigates between the comic and the tragic.

Hasan Hadi’s heartbreaking The President’s Cake, a multiple award winner at Cannes, is an unforgettable look at a country crushed by poverty and international sanctions and ruled by a sadistic, greedy, and vain tyrant.

Showings:

• Fri 20th Feb 8.30pm

• Sat 21st Feb 5.30pm

• Tue 24th Feb 6pm

• Wed 25th Feb 2.30pm

• Wed 25th Feb 8.30pm

• Thu 26th Feb 6pm

Dir. Hasan Hadi, Iraq/US/Qatar, 2025, 105 mins. In Arabic with English subtitles. Cast. Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheed Thabet Khreibat.

Get your tickets here.