A shot of boats wending their way through Mesopotamian marshlands as two fighter jets scream into frame begins the bittersweet odyssey that is THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE. It’s a striking image to a strikingly affecting film.
The Mesopotamian marshes are believed by many to be the birthplace of civilisation and the people there still live with the same lifestyle as they did thousands of years ago.
Back in the day it was ruled by the tyrant, Gilgamesh. April 26, 1990, it is ruled by the tyrant Saddam Hussein. Two days before Saddam Hussein’s birthday, a lottery is drawn in schools across the country where the “lucky” drawer is given the “privilege” of baking a cake in honour of the milestone.
This year, the “honour” is bestowed on nine year old Lamia, cynical of God, dutiful to her grandmother who has raised her, and attached to her rooster pet.
Cash strapped due to the sanctions imposed by the West due the despots regime, Lamia and her grandmother with rooster in tow travel to the nearest city to buy the ingredients for the President’s cake.
Thus begins an odyssey steeped in incident and holding a mirror to the blighted time and corrupt agency of Hussein’s reign.
Listing the situations risks spoilers. Suffice it to say audiences will be surprised and shocked at the adventures this little girl experiences.
Baneen Ahmed Nayyef as Lamia is astonishingly good; irascible, resilient, wise beyond her years, determined and with a moral compass unimpeded by the endemic corruption her society is riddled with.
A case of Iraqi phobia may well be felt by audiences witnessing venality on a viral level with women and children the primary victims. Male teachers stealing a child’s lunch, a male merchant seeking sexual favour from a pregnant woman, cops and hospital workers of both genders obliterating professional oaths for personal gain, and children press ganged into Hitler Youth-like patriotic propaganda parades.
It’s a bleak picture saved by the pluckiness of its protagonist, leavened with the knowledge that there are still good, principled people among the population. Writer director Hasan Hadi’s debut feature gets the mix right, the layers and the textures are perfect, making THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE a sweet treasure.
