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No Film School’s GG Hawkins speaks with writer-director Hasan Hadi and producer Leah Chen Baker about the development, financing, production, and release journey behind The President’s Cake. The conversation traces the film from NYU and COVID-era writing sessions through the Sundance Labs, the challenge of building an aggressively independent financing plan, shooting on location in Iraq with non-professional actors, and the impact of winning both the Caméra d’Or and the Audience Award at Cannes.
In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins, Hasan Hadi, and Leah Chen Baker discuss...
How Hasan and Leah’s collaboration began at NYU and grew through shorts, writing check-ins, and shared creative sensibilities
Why film school was essential for Hasan as a filmmaker coming from a country with limited cinema infrastructure
Developing The President’s Cake before applying to the Sundance Labs
How the Sundance Screenwriting, Directing, Producers Lab, and Catalyst Forum helped build confidence around the project
Leading with the film’s “risky” elements: a first feature, non-professional actors, no rehearsals, a period setting, and shooting in Iraq
Building a financing plan through micro grants, institutional support, small stakeholders, and equity partners
Why filming in Iraq was non-negotiable for the story’s authenticity
Creating an international crew while ensuring every department included Iraqi local crew
The realities of shooting with limited infrastructure and a long production schedule
What changed after the film won at Cannes
How Iraqi and international audiences have responded to the film
The importance of setting an end point for one project so the next one can begin
Memorable Quotes:
“But for me as a filmmaker who came from country that has almost no infrastructure in cinema. So my first film set when I was in film school almost, film school was necessary for me.”
“There were a lot of do not do's on our pitch for our first feature.”
“Even the failure sometimes was considered progress. It's not a success, it's a progress.”
“Stories have DNAs and roots and they have, you know, fingerprints and this story has a very strong fingerprints that is in Iraq.”
Guests:
Hasan Hadi
Leah Chen Baker
Resources:
The President’s Cake on IMDb
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