Iraq/Qatar 2025
105 Minutes
Director: Hasan Hadi

Set in sanctioned 1990s Iraq, the film follows the fortunes of Lamia – a young girl chosen by her school to provide a cake for the mandatory celebration of Saddam Hussein’s birthday. Unable to afford the ingredients, she and her grandmother fear the likely repercussions of failing to fulfil the task. Lamia sets out for Baghdad with a shopping list, her pet cockerel and the occasional help of her schoolmate Saaed. In pursuit of eggs, sugar and flour, they cross paths with a range of local characters, both predatory and benevolent. Hadi’s compassionate, tragicomic film balances light and dark in its child’s eye view of the moral collapse resulting from scarcity and authoritarianism.

Caméra d'Or (Best First Feature) at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Iraqi entry shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards