Two film directors have been given suspended prison sentences for producing an “obscene” film, My Favorite Cake, in which the aged starring actress does not cover her hair.
A Revolutionary Court sentenced Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam each to one year of imprisonment on charges of “producing obscene content” and 14 months behind bars on charges of propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
Behtash Sanaeeha (right) have been sentenced to
more than two years in prison for their hejabless
film, but the sentences have been suspended.
Esmail Mehrabi star in the film, from which this
still is taken.
Both sentences will be suspended for five years, meaning the directors won’t do any time behind bars assuming they commit no other offenses during the next five years.
My Favorite Cake (Keyk-e mahbub-e man) tells the story of an elderly widow living alone in Tehran, navigating the loneliness of old age while seeking new experiences. The film shows the widow on an evening “date” with an elderly widower she has just met.
My Favorite Cakeis a co-production between Iran, France, Sweden, and Germany.
The film tells the story of 70-year-old Mahin, who 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 afternoon tea and finds a new spark in her heart. She meets Faramarz (played by Esmail Mehrabi) who makes her feel alive again, and the evening brings unpredictable surprises and memories.
The film features scenes that explore private moments, including drinking wine, dancing, and intimate interactions, which are often subject to strict censorship in Iran.
The two actors were also charged and put on trial with the directors, but no verdict in the cases of the actors has yet been announced.
A day after the trial began before Now Ruz, Farhadpour wrote a post on her Telegram channel recounting details of the session.
Describing the trial as an inquisition rather than a judicial process, she wrote that the courtroom featured a “Prosecutor’s Desk” where no one sat. “The judge is both the judge and the prosecutor—but mostly the prosecutor,” she wrote. “You do not feel like you are being judged; you feel like you are only being prosecuted.”
She later deleted the post, writing, “They told me to delete the previous post. I said: ‘Of course.’” She did not specify who instructed her, but Iranian authorities have increasingly restricted artists’ social media activities and pressured them to self-censor.
My Favorite Cake had its world premiere on February 16, 2024, as part of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. The Iranian government did not permit the directors to attend, so they issued a statement to be read at the screening by actress Lily Farhad pour, 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 hejab–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 Favorite 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….
“Ladies and gentlemen, we proudly dedicate our premiere screening to the honorable and brave women of our country who have moved to the front lines of the fight for social change, who are attempting to tear down the walls of outdated and fossilized beliefs, and who sacrifice their lives to achieve freedom.”
“My Favorite Cake” received a production license from the Culture Ministry, meaning its script was approved in advance. It did not receive a screening license and, therefore, cannot be shown at theaters in Iran.
