film

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petra. on the screen.

Petra Hanson is the writer, producer, animator and subject of The short film, Xmas Cake—This American Shelf-life, nominated for Best Short Documentary at The Tribeca Film Festival in 2019, and officially selected to The Mill Valley Film Festival in 2019, and in 2020 toured the US with LUNAFEST, the very first traveling film festival featuring films by and about women.

Xmas cake: Japanese slang for an unmarried woman over 25, or stale dessert. Translation: Cat Lady

This is a true story about Petra, a New York knitwear designer by day who moonlights as a pop star by night, or whatever time it is in Tokyo. Her band, Gaijin à Go Go, made history as the only undiscovered American act ever to sign with the major label, Sony Music Japan, and sent her on an unexpected journey of getting older under the spotlight, where a woman can go from hot to not with too many candles on her birthday cake. When suddenly turning forty while single feels a lot like becoming Xmas Cake in America, she decides to do something about it.

Watch the preview:

“I want to move the needle on ageism. There’s no reason a woman—or anyone—should feel the pressure of an expiration date or that the best years of their lives are behind them."

Petra

Official selection 2020