Iraqi Director at Cannes Decries Sanctions: “They Empower Dictators”

Cannes, France: Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi premiered “The President’s Cake,” a dark satire on Saddam-era Iraq, calling international sanctions “a blunt weapon” that punished ordinary citizens instead of removing dictators. He recounted living through 1990s shortages where many starved or lacked medicine. Critics praised Hadi’s film, now Iraq’s Oscar submission, as a courageous critique of how sanctions often fail to achieve regime change. The Cannes audience gave a standing ovation.