The 33rd annual Philadelphia Film Festival runs October 17-27, 2024 and features over 100 films this year. Most films play twice and our own Justin Nordell will be sharing “Philly Film Fest Fast Reviews” to give you a taste of the festival so you can pick and choose which films to make for the second screenings!
One of the more beautiful and bittersweet cakes that I’ve ever experienced, My Favourite Cake tells the story of Mihan (Lili Farhadpour, Ballad of a White Cow) a widow for thirty years and counting whose only daughter has long since moved to Europe leaving her alone in Tehran. Mihan has an active social life with other women her age and spends her days sleeping until noon and traveling to and from local markets by taxi (she has a cell phone but can’t be bothered to understand those pesky rideshare apps).
Mihan is content in her life as is, but yearns for something more as she slides herself closer to male stranger waiting on a bench or revisits cafes from her youth hoping to recapture something. One night after one such failed attempt, she calls for a taxi driven by a handsome older man, Faramarz (Esmaeel Mehrabi, Temporary License) who drives her home in the pouring rain. The two develop quite the rapport and when they arrive at her home, she invites him in. Over the course of one night, Mihan and Faramarz develop strong and immediate feelings for one another, feelings they both had thought impossible to ever feel again.
My Favourite Cake, an orange blossom and vanilla cream cake Mihan bakes for Faramarz mind you, is a beautiful and enchanting Iranian late in life love story that made me laugh, cry, and more than anything: hope. This is one of the hidden gems of the 33rd Annual Philadelphia Film Festival.
Grade: A-
Catch it at PFF33: Friday, October 25th at 5:00pm at the PFS East
Tickets Available Here: https://prod5.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/ticketsearchcriteria.aspx?evtinfo=429848
Philadelphia RowHome Magazine's Blog 