Thomas, a young, solitary German baker, is having an affair with a married Israeli man named Oren, who frequently visits Berlin on business. When Oren fails to return Thomas's calls one day, Thomas discovers that he died in an accident in Israel, and he goes to Jerusalem and visits the cafe of Oren's widow, Anat. Without revealing his identity, he gets a job in the cafe's kitchen and rents an apartment in the city. Though at first he is not allowed to make food, as it puts the cafe at risk of losing its kosher certification, Anat eventually tries some baked goods that Thomas made for her son's birthday and allows him to make food. Thomas learns more about Anat's life and her family, including her brother-in-law, Motti, who is initially suspicious of him. He also grows closer to Anat, who is still grieving her husband's death despite her awareness of his infidelity. Anat is continuously tempted to look through Oren's personal effects, which include notes from his lover and a second phone. Eventually, while preparing a large volume of baked goods for a catering order, Anat makes an advance on Thomas, who hesitantly reciprocates; the two have a short affair, which begins to lift Anat's spirits. The affair makes Thomas ruminate on his time with Oren, including one of their final trysts, where Oren dismissed the idea of revealing the affair to his wife. Anat finds a shopping list written in German among Oren's personal effects, including the name of the Berlin cafe where Thomas works. Anat tells Thomas that Oren told her he was having an affair, and planned on leaving her and their son in Jerusalem to start a new life in Berlin. Anat forced him to leave the house, and he died in a car accident on his way to a hotel. Both Anat and Thomas are separately overwhelmed with guilt and grief. Later, Anat discovers that her kosher certification has been revoked, making all the catered goods worthless. While trying to deal with the situation, she discovers a note in Oren's effects with Thomas's handwriting. After rebooting Oren's second phone, she discovers more than a dozen voicemail messages from Thomas, and realizes that he was her husband's lover. Motti forces Thomas to leave Jerusalem immediately, saying they don't want him here and he must never return to Israel. Three months later, Anat's cafe is successful, despite lacking kosher certification. Anat travels to Berlin, where she spots Thomas coming out of his cafe from a distance. After watching him depart, she looks up at the sky and smiles.
Cast
as Thomas
Sarah Adler as Anat
Zohar Strauss as Motti
as Oren
Tamir Ben-Yehuda as Itai
Production
Financing of The Cakemaker took 6 years. The Jerusalem Film Fund supported the production of the film, but the funding was insufficient. The film was presented in the Berlinale Talents, the Agora Film Market and the Cannes Marche du Film, but received no support. After 19 rejection letters from the film funds, and with only the support of the Jerusalem Film Fund, The Cakemaker was shot on a budget of $90,000 in 20 days, in 2 countries, Germany and Israel. Following a first cut the film received additional financing from the Rabinovich Foundation and the Cinelab post production award, which allowed the film to be finished. The Cakemaker was then acquired by the international Sales company Films Boutique.
Reaction
The Cakemaker had its first screening in the market at Cannes for buyers and distributors. It was acquired for distribution in Japan and the USA. The official premiere was in the Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2017 in the main competition.The Cakemaker was honored by a standing ovation that lasted 10 minutes, and won the Ecumenical Jury Award. A month later in the Jerusalem Film Festival, The Cakemaker won two awards – the Lia Van Leer Award and the Best Editing Award. Subsequently, The Cakemaker participated in numerous film festivals worldwide, winning 11 awards, and is distributed in 22 countries. In North AmericaThe Cakemaker is distributed by Strand Releasing. It is one of their most successful titles and is highly regarded by the press. The Cakemaker is the Critics Pick at the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. The New York Times' critic Jeannette Catsoulis wrote: “Like a patient baker, filmmaker Grazier sees no reason to rush what happens between Thomas and Anat, and these two become key parts of each other’s lives so gradually, the acting and directing are so precisely right, that we believe what transpires.” Godfrey Cheshire from rogerebert.com refers to the film as “a terrifically impressive feature debut”. He wrote:“Watching it, the film’s intelligent, well-crafted story and beautifully drawn characters seem to suggest literary roots. But, examine those virtues more closely and it becomes evident that here they’re owed to a form of storytelling that’s essentially cinematic, one that depends on a quality that distinguishes this film throughout: its extraordinary delicacy and restraint.” Walter V. Addiego from the San Francisco Chronicle states that ‟Graizer takes his time and never feels the need to spell everything out, and The Cakemaker is a testament to what filmmakers can achieve when they trust the audience.” The Cakemaker was released on streaming services November 2018, and sold to the North American division of Netflix. Its score on rottentomatoes.com is 98%. In 2018 The Cakemaker won 7 Ophir awards by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television, and became Israel's official entry to the 2019 Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category. It was sold for a remake in USA. The film has been noted for its exploration of the topic of sexual fluidity.
