by Annette Basile
Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Intro:
Sometimes cinema can transport you to another time and place so effectively that it’s almost better than travelling. The President’s Cake has this transportive quality.
It’s 1990 in rural Iraq. Lamia (Baneen Ahmad Nayyef) rows herself across the marshes to get to school each day. UN-backed sanctions have left the country starving, and before school, Lamia’s grandmother and guardian, Bibi (Waheed Thabet Khreibat), cautions her to hold on to an apple that she’s just been given. “Eat it,” says Bibi. “We don’t have lunch today.” But when Lamia arrives at school, a teacher steals the apple from her bag when she’s not looking, while some kids paint a mural of Saddam Hussein and fighter jets puncture the skies.
On the surface, the plot might not sound that enticing – an impoverished nine-year-old girl is tasked with buying ingredients that she can’t afford to bake a cake for her class to celebrate the birthday of the country’s dictator, Saddam Hussein. But this is a truly superb and engaging work. The President’s Cake is impossible to pigeonhole – there’s drama, danger and a dash of slapstick in this moving and sometimes amusing film.
There’s a lot more going on than a simple quest for flour, eggs and sugar. When Bibi takes Lamia – and pet rooster, Hindi – to the gritty city, their lives are suddenly upended. Bibi and Lamia become separated and the film follows two story arcs: Bibi’s desperate search for her granddaughter, and Lamia’s hunt for those elusive ingredients.
In his first feature, Iraqi writer/director Hasan Hadi has delivered some stunning visuals – the shots of canoes over the marshes are beautifully cinematic – and the storytelling is effortless. There’s a light touch and the pacing is just right. Nothing is forced.
Baneen Ahmad Nayyef shines as Lamia amongst an enjoyable, mostly non-professional cast, while Waheed Thabet Khreibat is authentic as Bibi. Rahim AlHaj – as the postman who helps Bibi look for Lamia – is a stand-out, yet Sajad Mohamad Qasem’s Saeed is somewhat less convincing as Lamia’s friend.
And then there’s Saddam. His image crops up regularly in amusing ways, as if he’s a character in the film. Each time we see that infamous moustached face appear, Hadi seems to be winking at us. It’s part of the humour – and part of a subtle commentary about life in Iraq at that time.
This film is so moving and memorable that it’s no surprise that it picked up two major awards at Cannes last year – the Caméra d’Or for best debut feature, and the Directors’ Fortnight Audience Award.
Sometimes cinema can transport you to another time and place so effectively that it’s almost better than travelling. The President’s Cake has this transportive quality. It’s something special. Highly recommended.
