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When Iraqi helmer-writer Hasan Hadi nabbed the Golden Camera for best first feature at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival with “The President’s Cake,” Iranian director Jafar Panahi, winner of the main competition, offered some advice. “Be careful,” he said, “I got that award 30 years ago and it raised expectations for the second feature. Just make it and don’t worry about it.”
Since “The President’s Cake” became the first-ever Iraqi title to land on the international feature Oscar shortlist, Baghdad-based Hadi finds the expectations around his feature debut higher than ever. Discussing the “incredible honor,” he marvels, “For the first time, I feel like a film is being treated like a football team. Now we are in the World Cup. … It’s the first time [the audience] feels like they’re involved, have something to cheer for. … It puts responsibility on you.”
For Hadi, one of the most rewarding aspects of the film’s success is seeing it renew the faith of Iraqi artists and create new opportunities for them. He is overwhelmed with emails and texts from the people he inspired. After the head of France’s national film organization CNC saw “Cake” in Cannes, he asked Hadi how his organization could support Iraq’s film industry. The two kept in touch, and in early November, the governments of France and Iraq signed a cinematic cooperation agreement designed to strengthen cultural and artistic collaborations through the exchange of expertise, capacity-building and the development of policies that support the Iraqi film industry.
Of course, “The President’s Cake” already contributed to that capacity-building. Although the film would have been far easier to finance if the production took place in another country, Hadi was adamant about shooting in his homeland. Even though he had to bring in some international heads of departments, he insisted that other positions be reserved for Iraqis, so that they could learn and develop.
A U.S.-Qatar-Iraq co-production, the film also boasts a number of top Romanian talents including cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru and editor Andu Radu, both associates of Cristian Mungiu, one of the country’s most recognizable filmmakers. Hadi, a fan of Panduru’s shooting style, says, “He spoke about the story and script in a way that I immediately knew that he understands what I want to achieve here.” Another affinity between the Romanians and the Iraqis lay in the fact that both knew the difficulties of living under a dictatorship.
For Hadi, the Sundance Institute proved fundamental to the creation of “The President’s Cake.” First, he attended the Screenwriters Lab where he met Eric Roth and Marielle Heller, who both boarded the film as executive producers. He was also accepted into the Directors Lab. There, notes the MFA graduate of NYU’s filmmaking program, “having the opportunity to test the visual language, the tone of the film and the structure of the scenes was extremely important.”
Qatar’s contribution came through Doha Film Institute funding. (Remarkably, the institution funded three other projects on this year’s international feature shortlist: Cherien Dabis’ Jordanian entry “All That’s Left of You,” Annemarie Jacir’s Palestinian entry “Palestine 36” and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Tunisian entry “The Voice of Hind Rajab.”) In addition, while at Doha’s 2025 Qumra festival, Hadi acquired an international sales agent and learned about the film’s acceptance into Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, where it went on to win the section’s Audience Award.
When the promotional whirlwind finishes, what’s next for Hadi? Panahi need not worry — Hadi already has another project in mind, although not yet solidified, on which he will work again with producer Leah Chen Baker, a former NYU classmate. “It’s another Iraqi project, taking place during another period that isn’t well known, also from a personal perspective,” he says.
English (US) ·