Mahin (Lily Farhadpour), a 70-year-old widow, has been living alone in Tehran since her husband died and her daughter moved abroad, her solitary existence marked mainly by lunches with female friends. At one of these gatherings, the conversation turns to the question of late-in-life romance, and Mahin subsequently finds herself breaking her daily routine with the express intention of meeting a man. An encounter with a like-minded cab driver (Esmail Mehrabi) quickly blossoms into much more than she could have anticipated.
Co-directed by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, My Favourite Cake is a gentle, humorous meditation on love, loss, and loneliness. But befitting its real-life context—both filmmakers were prevented from leaving Iran to attend the film’s Berlinale premiere—the film is also filled with moments of everyday political resistance. Sweet but never saccharine, it is a film that finds delight in the most fleeting and transitory of moments.
FIPRESCI Prize, Berlin 2024
Lily Farhadpour, Esmail Mehrabi
Iran/France/Sweden/
Germany
2024
In Farsi with English subtitles
At Vancouver Playhouse
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Producer
Gholamreza Mousavi, Behtash Sanaeeha, Étienne de Ricaud, Peter Krupenin, Christopher Zitterbart
Screenwriter
Behtash Sanaeeha, Maryam Moghaddam
Cinematography
Mohammad Haddadi
Editor
Ata Mehrad, Behtash Sanaeeha, Ricardo Saraiva
Production Design
Maryam Moghaddam, Amir Hivand
Original Music
Henrik Nagy
Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha
Maryam Moghaddam was born in Tehran. She is an actress, screenwriter and director. She graduated from the Performing Arts School of Gothenburg, Sweden. She has performed in various Swedish theatres and has starred in Iranian films such as Jafar Panahi and Kambuzia Partovi’s Closed Curtain (2013), which won a Silver Bear at the 63rd Berlinale. Behtash Sanaeeha was born in Shiraz. After completing his degree in architecture, he began writing scripts and directing short films, documentaries, and commercials. Behtash and Maryam began their collaboration by co-writing Risk of Acid Rain (2015), which was Behtash’s feature directorial debut and was screened at over thirty international festivals. Their first co-directing project Ballad of a White Cow (2021) premiered in competition at Berlinale.
Photo by Mohammad Haddadi
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Encampments
When pro-Palestine protests took hold of Columbia last year, the filmmakers were there from the beginning. This documentary charts the mounting tensions between students and the administration, as the protests were picked up across North America.
Caught by the Tides
Over two decades, across China’s rapidly changing landscape, two lovers meet and part and meet again. In this magisterial film, Jia Zhangke refracts the 21st century through a reflexive, retrospective look at his era-defining filmography.
Sabbath Queen
The dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, including the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Amichai Lau-Lavie is what you might call the black sheep of the family. His sexuality led him down a different path, but its destination is surprising...
Kryptic
Oozing psycho-sexual anxiety, Kourtney Roy's fascinating feminist horror movie feints toward creature-feature quirk, but morphs into something much stranger. Chloe Pirrie plays a double role, or maybe Everywoman, adrift in a world of men and monsters.
Mary Ancheta Plays Betty Davis Tribute
In this VIFF Live event, keyboardist Mary Ancheta and her band channel the phenomenal funk of 70s sensation Betty Davis, featuring Dawn Pemberton on vocals. The live music portion of the event will be followed by Phil Cox's invaluable 2017 documentary, They Say I'm Different.