In southeastern Iraq, there is an area historically known as “The Garden of Eden.” It is an extensive marshland fed by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. There, for five thousand years, the “marsh Arabs,” in their reed houses and high-prowed canoes, have lived.
In the 1990s, this area was the home for young Lamia (Baneen Ahmad Nayy), her elderly grandmother Bibi (Waheed Thabet Khreibat), and pet rooster Hindi. Lamia attends the local school, where her best friend is Saeed (Sajad Mohamad Qasem) the son of a crippled beggar.
It is a time of turmoil. Dictator Saddam Husain has invaded Kuwait, and the US is bombing the country. Fighter jets frequently fly over the marshland. Sanctions have made things expensive for the Iraqis, especially the poor like Lamia, Bibi, and their neighbors.
Saddam’s 50th birthday is approaching, and the tradition is for each class in the school to prepare a celebration of fruit, juice, and a cake. The brutal teacher of Lamia’s class (he steals an apple from her backpack) draws names for which student will provide the treats: Saeed must find fruit, and Lamia must make a cake. Refusal is not a possibility.
Lamia and an ailing Bibi (she has diabetes) set out for town to find the flour, eggs, sugar and baking soda needed. So begins an odyssey with Lamia separated from Bibi, but united with Saeed as she searches for the cake ingredients.
Award-winning writer/director Hasan Hadi (“Swimsuit”) makes his directorial feature debut with this tender film about youth in a time of tragedy, the love and faith of a grandmother recognized too late, and the myriad of kind, cruel, devious, and uncaring people one may confront in a single day. Hadi found his actors through “street casting” of people similar to the characters of his story. None of them had acting experience before. The results are nothing short of amazing, and the film is the first Iraqi production to be short-listed for the Oscars: Best International Feature Film.
Also of note is the cinematography, especially in the marshland – all filmed in Iraq. The crowded, frenetic, eclectic mix of stalls and shops in an Arab city are beautifully captured, and traditional Arab music makes up the appealing soundtrack.
The film is in Arabic, with subtitles. Unfortunately, these subtitles, in white, often appear over a light background, making it difficult to follow the details of what is being said. Aside from that, this is a beautiful human story – the small people struggling to live their lives in the shadow (and bombs) of the mighty – told with affection, but also without sentimentality.
Runtime: One hour, 45 minutes
Availability: Currently in select theaters, with wider release in late February 2026
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