In his quietly devastating debut, Hasan Hadi follows nine-year-old Lamia, selected by her teacher to bake a birthday cake for Saddam Hussein, an honour nobody wants.

Armed with a shopping list and her beloved rooster Hindi, Lamia sets off across Baghdad in search of eggs, flour and sugar which are almost impossible to find in a country hollowed out by sanctions and fear.

What begins with a hint of absurdity deepens into something far more resonant: a child’s-eye odyssey through the surreal brutality of dictatorship, where even celebration feels compulsory. Shot entirely on location in Iraq with a largely non-professional cast, the film won the Audience Award at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and it’s easy to see why.

Baneen Ahmad Nayyef is astonishing as Lamia, carrying the film with a performance of watchful intelligence and quiet resolve. (And yes, Hindi the rooster is a delight)

Tender, wry and clear-eyed, The President’s Cake is one of the most assured and affecting debut features in recent memory.