The Iraqi film “The President’s Cake” won the Audience Award at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes.
According to cinemadrame news agency, “The President’s Cake” became the first Iraqi film in the history of Iraqi cinema to win the Audience Award at the Directors’ Fortnight in the Cannes Film Festival. The Cannes Film Festival awarded the film an $8,400 prize.
Hassan Hadi, the Iraqi director of the film, who lives in New York, turned his memories from the 1990s and his experience living during Saddam Hussein‘s era into the acclaimed film “The President’s Cake.” The film follows 9-year-old Lamia, who must overcome various obstacles to bake the Iraqi president’s birthday cake for her classmates.
A Deadline critic described the film as “a true gem and a real discovery,” while The Hollywood Reporter praised the “beauty” of its opening sequence, writing that Hadi’s film is “an exceptional start as a debut work” and “a vibrant and precise film.”
Valérie Carnoy’s film “Wild Foxes” won the award for Best European Film.
