‘The President’s Cake’: First U.S. Trailer For Cannes Winner & Iraqi Oscar Hopeful
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s your first domestic trailer for Cannes Caméra d’Or winner The President’s Cake by Iraqi director Hasan Hadi.
Sony Pictures will be opening the film for a qualifying run on December 12th and then will open in select theaters on February 6, 2026 before opening nationwide on February 27, 2026.
The drama follows nine-year-old Lamia who gets the short straw of having to provide a birthday cake for her classmates to celebrate the president’s birthday. Gathering the ingredients for the mandatory cake at a time of shortages is a monumental task but failure to deliver could lead to prison or death for her family.
New York-based Hadi tapped into his own childhood in southern Iraq in the 1990s, growing up under the regime of President Saddam Hussein and the socio-economic crisis provoked by international sanctions. Shot entirely in Iraq, where Hadi splits his time, the film unfolds through the performances of local, untrained actors.
The film, which debuted in Directors’ Fortnight, proved a crowd-pleaser in the Cannes parallel section, winning its People’s Choice audience award. Deadline critic Pete Hammond also fell for the film, describing it as a “a true gem and a real discovery”. Check out his review here.
The movie is produced by Leah Chen Baker. Executive producers Eric Roth (Forrest Gump), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), and Chris Columbus (Home Alone).
Films Boutique represents international sales. The Sundance Film Institute and Doha Film Institute are among the many supporters of the film.
