Director: Hasan Hadi

Stars: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheed Thabet Khreibat

Hasan Hadi’s supremely assured feature debut is an appealing and quietly riveting child’s eye view comedy odyssey set against a dangerous and precarious backdrop.The story takes place in Iraq in the 1990s after the Iraq invasion of Kuwait. Nine-year-old Lamia (Nayyef) is the unlucky winner of a school competition to bake a cake for Saddam Hussein’s birthday. If she fails to do so, she will be punished, even though ingredients are very difficult to come by thanks to Western economic sanctions. Lamia lives with her grandmother Bibi (Khreibat) and her beloved pet cockerel Hindi. Shortly after she is fired, Bibi, unable to look after her granddaughter, takes Lamia to see the woman who will be her stepmother. Lamia runs off and accompanied by her friend, little boy Saeed (Qasem), sets off to the city to find the ingredients. On their trip they encounter a range of shady, exploitative characters, as well as acts of kindness.

This is a charming picture redolent of Iranian film ‘The White Balloon’ with its adorable but resilient little girl protagonist let loose in the big city, and it features a wonderfully naturalistic performance from Baneen Ahmad Nayyef. Hadi moves events along at a sprightly pace while never losing sight of the heroine’s perilous environment.

David Willoughby

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