Movie and Picnic @Sommerville Auditorium
Details
Hello everyone,
Please join me Thursday night at the Sommerville Auditorium, for a picnic and movie.
The is a special event screening, with an artist talk and Q&A before the film at 7.30 pm. Iraqi film director and poet Istenad Haddad will speak before the film, the film commences at 8 pm.
Tickets are between $20-$24. Buy your tickets here.
https://www.perthfestival.com.au/program/season-2026/the-presidents-cake
The President's Cake is an Iraqi film about life under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. It should be interesting.
Meet me from 6.30 pm for a picnic, I'm proposing to order pizza from Charlie's Pizza, the event catering, Order your pizza here (you need to select the event location - Sommerville and the time for collection, I suggest 7 pm):
https://www.charliespizza.com.au/
If pizza is not to your liking you can bring your own food.
Please bring your picnic things: a blanket, outdoor chairs, bring a jumper and warm clothes as it may get cold.
Read the film desription here:
### Cannes Camera d’Or winning The President’s Cake is a rare film from Iraq and a humorous and poignant debut. Beautifully shot and acted, this playful fable is a timely and bittersweet tale of life under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein as seen through the eyes of a child.
It’s 1990 in Iraq. Across the country people are struggling to survive the war and food shortages. Despite the circumstances, it’s an enforced custom that each school in the country prepares a cake to celebrate Saddam Hussein’s birthday. Nine-year-old Lamia does everything she can to avoid getting picked, but an unlucky classroom draw finds her with the unenviable task of baking the birthday cake for her class. She now has to use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients for the mandatory cake – or face the consequences.
Hasan Hadi’s heartbreaking and heart swelling film, a multiple award winner at Cannes (including the People’s Choice Award), is an unforgettable look at a country crushed by poverty, international sanctions and despotism.
But it is also testament to resilience, ingenuity and the power of family and friendship. Beautifully shot and acted, and with a keen sense of time and place, The President’s Cake makes for an exhilarating adventure.