Lupita Nyong'o To Crown Winners At Berlin Film Festival

An Iranian love story by a dissident director couple and a chilling Austrian historical horror movie led contenders at the Berlin film festival ahead of awards night Saturday.

Kenyan-Mexican Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o is the festival's first black jury president. She will lead the seven-member panel at the 74th event in choosing among 20 films from around the world vying for the Golden and Silver Bear top prizes.

An international critics' poll by Britain's Screen magazine showed the bittersweet Iranian romance "My Favourite Cake" and Austria's ultraviolent "The Devil's Bath" to be the biggest hits in competition.

The success of "My Favourite Cake" proved particularly poignant as the duo behind the crowd-pleaser, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, were barred by Iranian authorities from travelling to Berlin for the premiere.

The film tells the story of a lonely retired nurse who shares a night of revelry and passion with a fellow pensioner at her home, beyond the prying eyes of the feared morality police.

Moghaddam, 52, told AFP via video link from Tehran that the film's crime in the censors' eyes was "crossing so many red lines which have been forbidden in Iran for 45 years" since the Islamic revolution.

The Guardian hailed the eye-opening movie as "wonderfully sweet and funny", while The Hollywood Reporter said it "crackles with the valiant, liberational energy of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement".