The President's Cake

by Mike McGranaghan

The President’s Cake opens with an appalling fact: despite widespread poverty and food shortages caused by UN-backed sanctions, Saddam Hussein required all Iraqi people to celebrate his birthday. Narcissism of that magnitude is enough to leave you speechless. Writer/director Hasan Hadi uses it as the basis for a story that’s brimming with both emotion and political relevance.

Lamia (Beneen Ahmed Nayyef) is a 9-year-old girl living with her aging grandmother. In school, she’s chosen to bake the class’s cake for Hussein’s birthday. This poses a problem, as it requires eggs, flour, and sugar – supplies that are hard to come by and even harder when you have no money. Lamia sneaks into the city with her friend, the sticky-fingered Saeed, to beg, borrow, and/or steal the needed supplies. The process proves more difficult than anticipated.

What happens on the surface in The President’s Cake is simple; the dynamics underneath are more complex. At her tender age, Lamia faces unfathomable pressure, knowing that people have suffered consequences for not sufficiently recognizing the occasion. Extra pressure comes from her teacher, who demands the cake “taste good,” as well as from the desire to not let her class down. Constantly seeing signs, posters, and other means of celebrating Hussein only adds to the stress. As the day goes on, her methods become more desperate.

Hadi’s story is intimate, using Lamia’s journey to suggest how children can be directly affected by politics, despite being too young to vote or even to understand them. Why must she bake a cake Hussein will never eat? Lamia doesn’t know; she just recognizes that there will be consequences if she doesn’t. Although the film takes place in Iraq, it gets you thinking about how kids everywhere struggle to make sense of confusing political realities.

Beneen Ahmed Nayyef is absolutely remarkable in the lead role. Her performance is full of truth, yet also completely natural, to the point where we feel like we’re seeing a real child in a real situation as opposed to an actress carrying out a written script. I don’t know where Hadi found her – she has no other acting credits – or how he coaxed this turn out of her, but it’s mind-blowing how fully she carries the movie.

The President’s Cake is beautifully photographed and carefully edited so that we’re plunged into the scenario without distractions to remind us we’re viewing fiction. Those qualities contribute to its poignant nature, as do the intermittent flashes of warm humor. This is a very special film you won’t soon forget.

---