SEEfest 2021 Interviews: CREAM’s Nóra Lakos’ talks about romantic comedy inspirations, casting for chemistry and a great kid

Nóra Lakos’ CREAM, which just screened at the 2021 South East European Film Festival, is a whimsical confection of a romantic comedy. The film follows Dora, whose boyfriend broke up with her and soon married another woman. Her reaction to cope with the hurt and disappointment is to start a pastry shop where she makes unfulfilled love sweet by selling pastries named after famous unfulfilled love couples from film history. When her pastry shop is in need of a financial boost, she targets a small business grant program to help. Unfortunately, that grant is supplied by a company and man who insists it go to an exemplary family – husband, wife, and kid. Naturally, Dora “casts” a husband and son to fake her way to the money and finds she must compete with other quirky families as well as her ex-boyfriend and his new wife. The meetings, activities, and tests make her realize the flame she has been hanging on to has no basis in reality. But has she learned her lesson in time not lose out on a chance at a new love?

In the interview, we talk about Nóra’s romantic comedy inspirations for the film, as well as how they purposely tried to deviate from the typical style and tropes where they could. We also talk about achieving chemistry between romantic leads – via casting and application, as well as her success casting (including how a growth spurt intervened) and working with the fake son in the film.