By Dan Skip Allen

I was in my late teens in the early 90s when the United States first attacked Iraq. As the 90s and 2000s progressed, this country was in a continuous war with Iraq until 9/11 happened, and we fought a different enemy. Saddam Hussein was the leader of Iraq, and he was a dictator. He starred and treated his people very badly. Despite that, he wanted to celebrate his 50th birthday. The film “The President’s Cake” is part of that celebration. This film was the official selection of Iraq for the international feature award for the 98th Academy Awards. After seeing it, I understand why. It shows a country in turmoil while showing how much the ignore the truth.

A little girl Lamia (Baneen Ahmad Neyyef) lives with her grandmother Bibi (Waheed Thabet Khreibat) and has a pet rooster Hindi. She goes to school where they pride themselves on the country and their leader. Her teacher does a draw to determine who has to make a cake for the president, and she is picked. Her grandmother takes her into the city to get the ingredients but instead tries to give her away. She runs away and goes on an adventure to try and get the ingredients to make the cake, with the help of a young pickpocket Saeed (Sajad Mohamed Qasem) herself. Things get more complicated as she is separated from her grandmother and doesn’t know who to trust.

The writer/director of this film Hasan Hadi gives viewers a look into what Iraq at this time in history was like. The inner workings of a rundown downtrodden city. Slums and shops and fruit stands and wheeler dealers at every turn. It’s not a place for a little girl on her own from her family. With her young friend, they try to navigate the fast-paced city. They try trading things for the ingredients they are looking for to bake the cake, but it’s not as easy as they think. There are a lot of shady characters and Police that are out to get her. All the while, her grandmother is very ill. This is a journey of discovery and learning about the real world for this little girl.

Part of what makes this story so interesting is the barter system. How the grandmother first tries to trade a radio for a school dress for the young girl and how the girl learns to barter herself for the ingredients of the cake she needs. One situation involves a watch that eventually gets her in trouble with the law. The young pickpocket is used to living on the streets but has a family. He teaches his new friend the ways of the streets. How to sneak around, and just because people say no doesn’t mean it’s a no. If you want something so badly, you find a way to get it. Their determination is very admirable in this story.

Seeing as this movie is a foreign film, it’s hard to get into it because the actors are not recognizable to Americans. That doesn’t mean they aren’t good, because they are very good. All of the actors in this movie do a great job. Especially the two young actors. Both give very realistic performances in this movie. It couldn’t have been easy on them at their ages doing all the running and jumping and fast-paced dialogue the director required of them in this film. The main star gives a very emotional performance.  The odd thing is that this is based on a true story. What she does in the movie would be something we would do considering who she’s doing this for. We as Americans wouldn’t care about her cause, but that’s what makes the story so fascinating. And why it has resonated with audiences around the world.

“The President’s Cake” is a movie about a little girl who wants to finish her mission to get the ingredients to make a cake for President Saddam Hussein’s 50th birthday. She doesn’t know who this man truly is from a worldly perspective. She is just tasked with a mission and wants to achieve her goal of getting these ingredients and making this cake. That’s the amazing part of this story. The innocence of children and how they think in regard to adults and so forth. She’s oblivious to the world around her. Neyyef gives a fantastic performance as this young girl. The writer/director Hadi shows the inner workings of the city and the hustle and bustle that goes along with it. All the various characters who come in and out of the film were fun to see come and go. This is a fantastic film despite not getting selected as a nominee for the best international feature academy award category. Hopefully, now that it’s out these theaters, people will go see it.

4 stars