Sales agency Films Boutique has closed two key territories on Iraqi writer/director Hasan Hadi’s “The President’s Cake” ahead of its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight during the Cannes Film Festival.
The film has been acquired in France by Tandem and Benelux by September Film.
“The President’s Cake” takes place in 1990s Iraq when people across the country are struggling to survive food shortages. It is at this time that 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 girl must now use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients for the mandatory cake or face the consequences.
“The President’s Cake” was filmed entirely in Iraq with a cast of local non-actors, who included Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheed Thabet Khreibat and Rahim AlHaj.
Hadi grew up in southern Iraq during wartime, and over the years worked in journalism, production, and as an adjunct professor at NYU’s Graduate Film Program.
He is a 2022 Sundance Institute Feature Film Fellow and the recipient of the 2022 Sundance Institute/NHK Award, SFFILM Rainin Grant, and Doha Film Institute Production Grant for “The President’s Cake,” his feature debut.
The film’s producer is Leah Chen Baker, who is an Independent Spirit Award-nominated producer and filmmaker. She produced Jamie Dack’s feature debut, “Palm Trees and Power Lines,” which premiered at Sundance 2022 and won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award.
Executive producers include Academy Award-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump”) and director Marielle Heller. The film is made in association with Missing Piece Films, Working Barn Productions, Maiden Voyage Films and Spark Features.
The director of photography is Tudor Vladimir Panduru, the DP of Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu on “Bacalaureat” and “RMN.” The editor is Andu Radu.
Films Boutique’s lineup includes Ira Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day,” which premiered in Sundance, Georgi M. Unkovski’s Audience Award winner from Sundance, “DJ Ahmet,” and “Tarika” by Milko Lazarov, which screens in the Cannes Ecrans Junior section. There will be market screenings for the recent Berlinale competition title “Girls on Wire” by Vivian Qu and “Where the Wind Comes From” by Amel Guellaty, which also premiered in Sundance earlier this year.
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