Part of Contemporary Arab Cinema

Directed by Hasan Hadi (2025)

With Baneen Ahmed Nayyef, Waheeda Thabet, Sajad Mohamad Qasem

While people across 1990s Iraq struggle to survive the war and food shortages, President Saddam Hussein requires each school in the country to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday. Despite her efforts to avoid getting picked, 9-year-old Lamia is chosen among her classmates, and must use her wits and imagination to gather the scarcely-available ingredients in this directorial debut that earned the 2025 Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival