My Favourite Cake

FIPRESCI Prize, 2024 Berlin International Film Festival

Mahin (Lily Farhadpour), a 70-year-old widow living in Tehran, leads a quiet life with no family around. She spends her time with friends over tea and helps a young woman escape the morality police. One day, she meets a taxi driver (Esmail Mehrabi) who was a lieutenant during the 1979 Revolution. Despite the risk of violating the moral code, she invites him over for some rare enjoyment. As their chemistry intensifies, they face the uncharted question of what happens next.

The film shuns didacticism, focusing on poetic resistance in Tehran’s everyday life. Mahin, who remembers women’s rights before the Revolution, defies both the morality police and her neighbor’s surveillance. Her yearning for freedom drives her pursuit of love and passion. Made with a similar passion by filmmakers Maryam Moqadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who were barred by Iranian authorities from traveling to Paris for post-production, MY FAVOURITE CAKE highlights the enduring spirit of Iranians who persist against all odds.

– Wentao Ma

Co-presented by the Persian Cultural Center.