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Lamia: A Birthday Cake and a War
Imagine being nine years old during a war. Now imagine being chosen to bake the birthday cake for the man *causing* that war. This is the premise of Hasan Hadi’s debut feature, Lamia, a poignant and powerful story set in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. Lamia isn’t a typical war story; it’s a deeply personal tale of childhood, courage, and the quiet acts of rebellion that define us.
The film centers on Lamia, a young girl living under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. Her world is one of strict control, where even a seemingly innocuous task – providing a birthday cake for the President – carries immense weight and risk. The narrative builds a suffocating atmosphere of tyrannical control. oppression overwhelms, and dissent is taboo. But, despite all this, when the moment comes, she chooses defiance over subservience. It’s a perplexing and believable twist that questions what it is that truly defines us. And for the audience, it’s a pure balcony moment.
Like Dorothy in The wizard of Oz,Lamia meets many archetypes along the way,many of whom are far more frightening than skeletal-faced trees.And as if this nine-year-old’s burden wasn’t heavy enough, her odyssey is set against the backdrop of the 1991 Operation Desert Storm aerial assault (January 17 – February 28, 1991). The conflict, a US-lead military operation to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation, provides a constant, looming threat.
But as dramatic as warfare is, for Lamia and the students on birthday-dessert duty, the hostilities on the ground – the corruption, the fear, the desperate attempts to survive – outgun anything a US bomber can drop.
Release Dates
THEATRICAL
February 6th, 2026 – limited
February 27th, 2026 – wide
STREAMING
To be announced
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Written & Directed by Hasan Hadi
Interview With Hasan Hadi
This story comes from my childhood memories growing up in Iraq during Saddam’s time. Every year, our teacher would walk in with a bowl and ask us to throw our names into it. He would then draw the name of the student responsible for baking the president’s birthday cake and providing other items-fruits, decorations, cleaning supplies, and flowers.
One year, I was picked to be the flower boy.I still have the photo of me holding the flowers somewhere in my library, and I remember my family’s relief as all I had to bring was flowers. Of course, at the time, sanctions had made corruption so widespread that you could escape the draw if you offered the teacher a service-fixing his bike, giving him a haircut.Then you’d survive. But if you couldn’t, your chances were slim.
For my first feature film,I wanted to tackle a subject,world,theme,and characters that I am familiar with. I was persistent to develop these memories into a film about that period in iraq-depicting the daily reality of its people, but above all, celebrating the power of love and friendship. We have something in Arabic called “Maktoob”, meaning “it is written” or “dest