Hasan Hadi

Hasan Hadi is one of the most promising voices in new Iraqi cinema. Born and raised in southern Iraq during years marked by war, economic sanctions, and Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, his cinematic vision stems from a direct experience of daily survival and the memory of a generation that grew up amidst scarcity and uncertainty. Before fully dedicating himself to filmmaking, he worked in journalism and audiovisual production, and later completed his training at New York University (NYU), where he developed many of the projects that would bring him international recognition. His career began to gain visibility with the short film Swimsuit (2021), a work that won the Best Narrative Short Film award at the Urbanworld Film Festival. This recognition opened doors for him to important film development programs, including the Sundance Institute labs, where he refined his narrative style, characterized by a combination of social realism, humanist sensibility, and a special focus on childhood as a vantage point for observing historical conflicts. His breakthrough came at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025, where The President's Cake won the prestigious Caméra d'Or for best first feature film and the Audience Award at the Directors' Fortnight, becoming a milestone for contemporary Iraqi cinema. Thanks to this work, Hasan Hadi has established himself as a storyteller capable of transforming personal experiences and episodes from Iraq's recent history into universal narratives about dignity, resilience, and hope.

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