The President's Cake
Directors’
Fortnight
People's Choice Award
Best First
Feature
Official Selection
Iraqi Entry
Official Selection
The President's Cake
A Film by Hasan Hadi
2025 - Iraq/USA/Qatar - Drama - 105 min.
with Baneen Ahmed Nayyef , Sajad Mohamad Qasem & Waheed Thabet Khreibat
Oscars 2026: Official Iraqi Submission
Language: Arabic
While people across 1990s Iraq struggle to survive the war and food shortages, 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. The young girl must now use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients for the mandatory cake or face the consequences.
Directors’
Fortnight
People's Choice Award
Best First
Feature
Official Selection
Iraqi Entry
Official Selection
More Films
The Burdened
A film by Amr Gamal
2023 - Yemen/Sudan/Saudi Arabia - Drama - 1.85 - 90 min.
Aden, Yemen. Isra’a and Ahmed put all their efforts offering a normal life and education to their three young children. When they find out that Isra'a is pregnant again, they have to make difficult decisions guided only by their family's interest.
Zejtune
A film by Alex Camilleri
2026 - Malta/Germany/Qatar - Drama/Music - 108 min.
After her estranged mother’s death, Mar plans to leave Malta for good by selling the farmland she’s inherited. But as she travels the island to claim her land, she meets Nenu, an irrepressible 80-year-old folk singer whose music and spirit challenge her desire to escape. An unexpected connection between past and present grows as Mar slowly warms to the homeland she wanted to turn her back on.
Two Step
A film by Alex R. Johnson
2014 - USA - Thriller - DCP - 1.78 - 93 min.
Austin, Texas. After the death of his grandmother, college student Jame finds consolation in the company of Dot, a Country Music dancer. While settling Grams' affairs, James discovers she has been the victim of the "grandparent scam" in which someone posing as James has been stealing her thousands of dollars. But before James can go looking for the culprit, he shows up at the front door, desperate for money.