This article was first published on Edition F in August 2024 and was updated in February 2025, the interview itself remained unchanged.
Showing a woman without hijab on the screen is prohibited in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This leads to absurd pictures in which female film characters also wear a hijab in their home, where they usually put the headscarf, no matter what everyday situation. The screenwriters Maryam Moghaddam and Behtassh Sanaeeha broke with this taboo and go even further into "a small piece of the cake".
In the film, the 70-year-old protagonist Mahin (Lily Farhadpour) addresses foreign men on the street because she no longer wants to be lonely. She flirts with a taxi driver and invites him to home. There, Mahin and her chosen Faramarz (Esmail Mehrabi) wine drink, touch when dancing, showering and decide that the night should end together in Mahin's bed.
Such scenes have been exposed to strong censorship since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the population is subject to the strict rules of patriarchal authorities. The director Maryam Moghaddam and Behtassh Sanaeha and their film crew have therefore taken great risks to oppose the oppression of the regime and to show the lives of Iranian women realistically.
A few days after the film started, the death of Jina Mahsa Amini was public, which died as a result of the violent detention by the so -called moral police. While the Iranians took to the streets against the regime, the filmmakers continued to turn in a hidden and devoted themselves to their work for which the protesters still work at life.
Last year Maryam Moghaddam and Behtassh Sanaeeha were taken away when they wanted to leave Iran for the post -production of their film. They had to finish their film with the production team that was sitting abroad. In contrast to the main actors, the filmmakers were also not allowed to participate in the premiere of the film at the Berlinale in early 2024.
In the interview, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtassh Sanaeeha tell about their motives to make the film despite all the risks and reprisals.
From where they both are switched on and under what conditions can you currently speak to journalists?
Maryam Moghaddam:“We are in our home in Tehran because we are not allowed to travel out of Iran. We are currently waiting for the judgment of the court, which has opened a trial against us because of the production of the film. ”
The film is described as a tragedy "which draws an authentic picture of the everyday life of the Iranians and their possibilities of subtle emancipation against patriarchal authorities". Would you formulate that too?
Behtash sanaeehaha:"It's a nice description."
Maryam Moghaddam:"I would add that a little bit of the cake 'is a story about life. The film shows that life can be over very quickly and that despite all the misery it is worth living, even if we may only have a happy night. ”
Was there a message that you really wanted to convey in your film?
Maryam Moghaddam:"I don't think you send a specific message with a film. Rather, we have opened a window through which it can be seen how we feel, think and look at life. I would go even further and say that this open window gives an insight into the reality of life of the Iranians and the double life that people have had to lead here for 45 years.
In our home it shows that we are normal people, with longings and desires, with everything that makes us human. But outside of the confidante four walls, life is characterized by prohibitions. As soon as we step out of the door, we have to pretend.
And the Iranian film world was also forced to lies: We must not show how people really live in our works. Behtassh and I break with this lie. We depict the lives of the people, as they are led at home, where nobody can control whether the rules are observed. "
The shooting took place in secret, while the street demonstrations,which were triggered by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini,continued. How did you experience this time?
Behtash sanaeehaha:“The situation was very challenging for us and the crew. We started the pre -production of the film three months before the start of the protest movement. Thirteen days after the start of the shoot, the shocking and sad news came that Mahsa was killed Amini. The entire crew could then not imagine turning the film on, we paused the work.
After a few days we all met in the house, where a large part of the film was shot and spoke about the incident and the protests. Nobody went well, we cried and complained about what was done to people in Iran. But we also talked about the topics of the protest movement, the struggle of which applies to life, Iranian women and freedom. At the same time, these are the topics of the film: women, life, freedom.
Therefore, we decided to continue with the production and thereby visible that people in Iran long and what women in particular suffer from. This thought not only motivated us, we and the entire crew even found it our duty to make this film and thus make a contribution to the protest movement.
However, this time meant great stress for all of us. We were afraid that the revolutionary guards could storm the location and stop production. Every day of shooting felt like it could be the last. But we were lucky and were able to complete the filming and even create a raw cut that we managed out of the country in good time. ”
You are in a court proceedings because of your work on the film. Your passes were confiscated, there was a raid at your home. You probably suspected that this project could have serious consequences for both of you. How do you deal with this thought?
Maryam Moghaddam:“We were very aware of the consequences when we started working on the script three years ago. We, the crew and the actors all combine the same feeling: we long to change something with our work.
The script was created long before the protest movement, which followed Mahsa Amini's death. The restrictions on freedom and the difficulties with which women in particular are confronted on the street have long been a reality. Only the global awareness of this was and the resistance, however, not that big before the start of the protest movement in 2022.
Tragically, Mahsa Amini's death is nothing that we didn't know before, here in Iran. There have been many such cases in recent years. The big difference is that Amini's death went viral through social media and the subsequent protest then experienced worldwide public and outrage. ”
In your film, you also address the hard passage of the Iranian regime as soon as women show their hair or just a few strands of hair in public, the power of the rulers are so much more concerned, isn't it?
Maryam Moghaddam:“Absolutely, it's about basic human rights that are denied to us. The regime tries to regulate every area of our lives and therefore forces people to have a double life in order to keep a certain normality somewhere.
We are forced to lie, no matter what it is about: what we think, how we believe, how we dress, who we are, what we drink and eat. Whoever we are in our home must not be carried to the public, everything happens in hidden. This makes working as a filmmaker enormous because we are not allowed to map and address how people really live.
However, our film is not just about the difficulties with which Iranian women are confronted. This is part of the film. What we want to convey as well is that there are so many layers from which the life of a woman like Mahin is composed. Older women hardly experience visibility as soon as they no longer meet the media beauty claims.
We wanted to devote ourselves to the question of what a livable life can look like, despite all the challenges with which people are confronted here. Is a nice night enough to compensate for the heaviness? We already find and wanted to convey with the film that hope for real feelings and a happy moment make life worth living. ”
Even in the western film world, the representation of love, desire and sex in old age, generally the representation of old women, is rather a rarity. How did you get the idea of putting an old woman at the center of her history?
Maryam Moghaddam:“We consciously decided to make a film on this topic. As you say, the invisibility of old women is a worldwide phenomenon. Around the age of 50, women are no longer perceived as an interesting and active part of society. If you don't look like a superstar, you will be placed on the siding.
In Iran, as in other strongly religious societies, the misery is even greater than in western countries. Here it is a taboo for older women to have desires and to pursue them. They are expected to stay at home and take care of relatives and the household. ”
Behtash sanaeehaha:“Not only are the desires of women taboo, they shouldn't marry a second time. Men are allowed to have four wives at the same time. But women should only have one man throughout their lives. If you become a widow, you are expected to stay alone. If a woman refuses to this taboo, it is very badly talked about her. ”
In the film, Mahin and Faramarz laugh at the rules of the government, the moral police and the curious neighbors. Your coping mechanism to deal with this difficult situation. What role does humor play for people in Iran and for both of you?
Maryam Moghaddam:“I have heard that prisoners in prisons in prisons in particular tear jokes about their miserable situation in order to endure the intolerable conditions. This can also be transferred to Iranian society. Our sense of humor enables us to soften the hard reality; It is a means to survive the darkness and grief in Iran. "
The people in Iran go through very difficult times. What is the meaning of art in these challenging times?
Maryam Moghaddam:“We are a nation that is strongly shaped by the political circumstances, which is why a love story designed for the canvas will always be a socio -political film. Not because we would be obliged to do so, but because our works are an expression of our feelings and thoughts. ”
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Behtash sanaeehaha:“Being in the here and now is therefore such an important topic in our film. A small piece of the cake 'reflects the problems of the Iranian population and at the same time shows the simple life of two old people who experience a night together and get the maximum out of these hours.
Living the moment is extremely important for us Iranian. We don't think too far ahead because we can never be sure of the future. Who knows what could be tomorrow? In most countries in the Middle East, especially in Iran, nothing can certainly be predicted. ”
In their statement, which was read out at the premiere of the film at the Berlinale, they wrote that it was a film, "who deals with love, life and also of freedom, a lost treasure in our country." How can people In Iran, love, life, freedom get back - and how can people outside the Iran support you?
Maryam Moghaddam:“We don't know how the Iranians can secure these rights. But the people here in the country have seen that there have been a lot of support in these two years since the beginning of the new protest movement. We know that the world looks at us and that is good for our hearts. This heart -warming support encourages us.
At the same time, we also realized that we have absolutely no support from the politicians of other countries. The people in Iran are on their own and hope for better times. "
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"A little piece of the cake" can currently be seen in the cinema. Here you can see the trailer.
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