Film Season Ticket: September 2026 – June 2027 (10 films)
HLSI Members: £70 / Non-Members £85
Individual Films:
HLSI Members: £11 / Non-Members £15
Please note that this event will be taking place in our Victoria Hall, which is step free.
The film is set in Iraq under President Saddam Hussein in the 1990s. Nine-year-old Lamia, who lives with her grandmother Bibi in the Mesopotamian Marshes, is requiedby her school to bake a cake to celebrate the president’s birthday. Lamia and Bibi are poor, and commodities are scarce and punishment will be meted out if she does not obtain the ingredients to bake the cake.
The film, both whimsical and realistic, tells the story of how a child relies on native wit, good fortune and the apparently capricious response of adults to navigate the completion of this task. Hazards include scrapes with officialdom, unreliable health, a sick guardian and merchants whose motivations are seldom easy to predict from early encounters.
The film ends with the school celebrating the president’s birthday and a mourning Lamia refusing to join in the celebrations despite the complements of her teacher. As bombs from an air raid begin to fall Lamia and her friend, crying and afraid, lose their ability to navigate the absurdity and carnage of a world over which they have no control.
The film ends with archival footage of Saddam Hussein’s televised birthday celebration, with an arabic cover of Happy Birthday to You playing.
The film had its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025, where it won the section’s Audience Award and the Caméra d’Or.
Doors open at 7.00pm for pre-film drinks
Film starts at 7.30pm
Film Talk at 9.30pm
Please book by 1pm on the day of the film or pay on the door.
Iraq, Qatar, US 2025; 105 mins. Dir. Hasan Hadi; starring Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheed Thabet Khreibat and Rahim AlHaj.
