Final Rating: 4/5
The vast majority of American kids stand at the start of their school day and say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. It’s a fairly innocuous gesture that most of these kids don’t fully understand to begin with. It’s a thirty second blip before diving into arithmetic, history, and grammar for the next seven or eight hours.
But what if it was more than that? In some countries, a pledge of allegiance is not a mere formality, it is an iron clad bond that comes with responsibilities and repercussions. That is the driving force behind Hasan Hadi’s The President’s Cake that looms over the film’s young protagonist, Lamia.
It is the 1990s in Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s mandatory birthday celebrations are rapidly approaching. In Lamia’s class on “draw day”, the teacher reveals who will be tasked with bringing what to the festivities. And the most important piece of any birthday party–the cake–is assigned to Lamia to make. Not only that, but her teacher insists it be a big cake… a big cake with cream filling.
For Lamia, a very compelling Banin Ahmad Nayef, there’s a lot of pressure on this responsibility and punishment should she fail. It’s the kind of task that you drop everything to do once you learn what needs to be done. Lamia enlists the help of her grandmother (Waheed Thabet Khreibat) to buy the necessary ingredients, because very few people can afford to keep such extravagances like eggs and flour around their house at this time. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait was not long ago and the sanctions that followed from other countries have made the economic situation in Iraq somewhat dire.
Given the circumstances, everything that unfolds after the first twenty minutes or so is largely to be expected. It’s a quest to acquire the cake’s ingredients that is met with constant adversity. Finding people that’ll help without trying to take advantage of a nine-year-old girl ends up being quite difficult. Lamia’s growth over her journey is the most interesting thing about the film. When her grandmother, Bibi, doesn’t appear to be as invested in baking the cake as Lamia is, Lamia and her pet chicken, Hindi, take off on their own to complete their mission.
Each interaction that Lamia has is an indictment on life in Iraq at the time. Most of the people she comes across are adults trying to survive the conditions just like she is and they see Lamia as a means to an end. She’s a young girl who doesn’t know any better and an easy target for abuse.
There comes a point when The President’s Cake’s narrative becomes slightly repetitive. It only takes one or two interactions between Lamia and an unhelpful adult to understand what’s going to happen next time. Fortunately, she runs into a classmate of hers, Saeed (Sajad Mohamad Qasem), whose presence gives the film a bit more depth. He’s got his own mission and goods to acquire for what he’s been tasked with bringing to the birthday celebration. The tension between the two of them, their situation, and their surroundings keeps the film chugging along even as the peripheral characters lack complexity.
Beyond the characters and story, Tudor Vladimir Panduru’s cinematography of these authentic locations in Iraq is beautiful. The kids run through dusty and dry streets and wander through bustling marketplaces all while surrounded by a marsh. It’s easy to appreciate the visual language on display. Everyone clamors for their own groceries in a town that looks like it’s been dry for decades, despite the river around it.
When Hadi chooses to ratchet up the tension, he’s very successful. There are multiple moments in the latter half of the film that tug at the heartstrings just as the narrative momentum starts to stagnate. For his first feature film, Hadi does a splendid job of telling a story and probably has a lot of room to grow from here.
It’s no surprise that The President’s Cake has garnered a fair number of awards and was chosen as Iraq’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards. It ended up on the shortlist, but failed to earn a nomination, which is a shame. This is a touching and genuine film whose reputation will likely grow with time.
Thank you to Mongrel Media and Star PR for the screener.
