My Favourite Cake (2024) – Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha (Friday’s Finest)

The creators, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha of My Favourite Cake were charged by the Iranian Government with propaganda, vulgarity and spreading prostitution. They were forbidden from leaving Iran, were under arrest as of February 2025. The red lines they crossed entails their movie showing a woman drinking alcohol, dancing, and not wearing a headscarf in her home. The film was represented by the film’s lead actors at its premiere and film festivals.

I saw this quiet and powerful film at the cinema 2 weeks ago. My Favourite Cake is the second Iranian film to feature here after – A Separation (2011) which currently sits at No. 17 on my Favourite Movies List.
What I enjoy most about watching foreign films is how they transport me to places I might never have the luxury to visit, making me feel as though I’m exploring the sights and soaking up the history, culture, and customs alongside the protagonists – all for the price of a movie ticket. I have come to like films where I can watch other people’s lives. People doing every day things. And when they are set in different cultures especially one as distinct as Iran – even more interesting.

Storyline:
70-year-old Mahin has been widowed for 30 years and her two children live abroad. She is living a lonely life in Tehran. But one day, she decides to join her friends for the afternoon tea and finds a new spark in her heart. She meets someone who makes her feel alive again, and the evening brings unpredictable surprises and memories.

I knew nothing about the plot going into seeing My Favourite Cake and I always prefer it that way as I can immerse myself in each scene without any preconceived notions of where the story might be heading. For instance, I cannot even describe fully here the type of film My Favourite Cake is (apart from ‘romance drama‘) since even that would reveal too much. Any one who has seen this film, will know why I’m being so fastidious even describing the full genre of this movie.

As I alluded to earlier, I was so touched by the beauty in the little things, the dinner with Mahin’s girlfriends, how she spends her day. (I posted at the end of this post a tranquil, but charming little scene which encapsulates the film’s understated elegance). Then, out of the blue, Mahin decides – for the first time in her life – to confront her loneliness and lack of companionship by pursuing her ‘desires’ in a place where women’s rights are severely restricted. So this is what happens:

“Mahin” a lonely, widowed, retired nurse who has lived by herself for many years, happens to overhear a conversation in the government run pensioner’s cafe that points out that taxi driver “Faramarz” (Esmaeel Mehrabi) is also single. She quite quickly determines to track him down and next thing she is in his cab.

The film becomes riveting and tense when Mahin just goes for it! Well you can also guess that things are not going to go to plan either – and we are given a few subtle clues along the way to manage our expectations as this entertainingly mischievous story develops. There’s a dance scene in the film that filled me with such euphoria, I began to clap and bop along in my seat. I think that’s a first for me as a film-goer in the cinema.

As Mahin, (Farhadpour) captivates with a warm, compelling presence, effortlessly drawing in her new companion. A quiet, believable chemistry simmers between them as the bulk of the narrative takes place in her home – where they cautiously navigate the ever-present risk of being discovered by the feared morality police, who could penalise them simply for sharing private time together, despite their age. What makes this film resonate is its subtle yet sharp critique – not only of societal perceptions of aging but also of the enduring gender inequality that sees women granted few freedoms. And yet, at its heart, the film is disarmingly funny, offering up themes of bashfulness, resilience, hope, and self-assurance, all tinged with a sly, dark wit.

My Favourite Cake had its world premiere on 16 February 2024, as part of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, in competition. The Iranian Government would not permit the directors to attend, so they issued a statement to be read out at the screening by actress Lily Farhadpour, including these words

“We have come to believe that it is no longer possible to tell the story of an Iranian woman while obeying strict laws such as the mandatory hijab. Women for whom the red lines prevent the depiction of their true lives, as full human beings. This time, we decided to cross all of the restrictive red lines, and accept the consequences of our choice to paint a real picture of Iranian women – images that have been banned in Iranian cinema ever since the Islamic Revolution…

My Favourite Cake is a film made in praise of life. This is a story based on the reality of the everyday lives of middle-class women in Iran, a close look at a woman’s solitude as she enters her golden years. A vision of the reality of women’s lives which has not often been told. It is a story that is contrary to the common image of Iranian women, and similar to the life stories of many lonely people on this planet, about savoring the short, sweet moments in life…‘

References:
1. My Favourite Cake – IMDB
2. My Favourite Cake – Wikipedia
3. ‘We’re charged with propaganda, vulgarity and spreading prostitution’: the directors of My Favourite Cake – The Guardian