Paris-based sales and production outfit Totem Films has closed a slew of sales ahead of the Berlinale premieres of their Competition title “My Favourite Cake,” and the Panorama opening film “Crossing.”
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha‘s “My Favourite Cake” sold to Cherry Pickers for Benelux, Camera for Denmark, Arizona for France, Triart for Sweden, Cineworx for Switzerland and BIR for Turkey.
Levan Akin‘s “Crossing” sold to Imagine for Benelux, New Story for France, Lucky Red for Italy, Avalon for Spain and Cineworx for Switzerland. As announced previously, a multi-territory deal was also signed with Mubi.
Other territories are in discussion and Totem will continue selling the films at the European Film Market in Berlin.
Totem will also be launching sales in Berlin for “Queen Mom,” which is in post-production. The film is directed by Manele Labidi (“Arab Blues”) and stars Camélia Jordana, Sofiane Zermani, Damien Bonnard and Rim Monfort. It will be released in France by Diaphana Distribution.
“My Favourite Cake” centers on seventy-year-old Iranian woman Mahin, who lives alone. Mahin decides to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life, but as she opens up to romance, an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unforgettable evening.
The film marks a return to Berlin’s competition lineup for Moghaddam and Sanaeeha after the success of “Ballad of a White Cow,” which was presented at the Berlinale in 2021. The film was sold by Totem to more than 40 distributors and screened at A-list festivals around the world.
“Crossing” follows Lia, a retired teacher living in Georgia, who made a promise to find her long lost niece Tekla. The search takes her to Istanbul, a beautiful city that seems full of connections and possibilities. There she meets Evrim, a lawyer fighting for trans rights, and Tekla starts to feel closer than ever.
Akin, a Swedish filmmaker of Georgian descent, directed “And Then We Danced,” which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2019 and was selected as Sweden’s official entry for the Oscars.
