A daughter of the '60s feminist revolution asked,
"Why have a wedding when I could have my own band?"
And then she made history.
Embedded Files
Xmas Cake—This American Shelf-life
Xmas Cake—This American Shelf-life
A story told for The Moth Mainstage
A story told for The Moth Mainstage
Nominated for Best Short Documentary
Nominated for Best Short Documentary
at The Tribeca Film Festival 2019...
at The Tribeca Film Festival 2019...
Is now a book!
Is now a book!
About the film.
About the film.
Christmas cake (noun): 1) a holiday dessert considered stale the day after Christmas; 2) Japanese slang term for an unmarried woman over 25 ( as in "spinster" or "cat lady")
Petra Hanson’s autobiographical short film Xmas Cake—This American Shelf-life premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Documentary Short. It was an official selection of the 2019 Mill Valley Film Festival, then toured the US in 2020 with LUNAFEST, the first traveling festival of films by and about women.
The story…
It’s the early ’90s, and a free-spirited young American is living in Tokyo. She confronts a disturbing suicide epidemic among single Japanese women who’ve been labeled “Christmas cake”—an epidemic that soon claims her close friend, Yuki. She ruminates on the tragedy for years to come. A decade later, in New York City, she forms a low-stakes, Japanese-themed pop band in remembrance of her late friend. Then the band accidentally becomes big in Japan.
This is a true story about Petra, a native New Yorker. She’s a knitwear designer by day and a pop star by night, or whatever time it is in Tokyo. Her band, Gaijin à Go Go, makes history as the only nobodies from American to ever to sign with a major Japanese label, Sony Japan.
Petra goes 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. She discovers that turning forty while single might be America’s version of “Christmas cake.” Determined to redefine her narrative, she embraces spinsterhood, giving it a positive twist—she marries herself and walks boldly into the future she's created, on her terms.
The film…
You're invited to a virtual private screening of Xmas Cake!
Watch it here: https://www.thebsider.com/private-screening
Password: xcake2022
Running time: 9:57
About the book.
About the book.
Petra’s acclaimed short film Xmas Cake—This American Shelf-life is now a full-length autobiographical novel that puts film’s story in its full context. The real title’s hush-hush, so for now, she’s calling it...Xmas Cake, the Book.
The story…
When a single New York fashion designer on the brink of thirty rejects the "have it all" hustle, she asks herself: "Why have a wedding when I could have my own band?"
Xmas Cake, the Book is a rock and roll story told rom-com-style with a subversive twist. Meet Petra, a native Manhattanite stuck in a corporate fashion grind as Y2K fears loom on the digital horizon. While her co-workers chase engagement rings, Petra looks back at her freewheeling days in Tokyo, frequently daydreaming on the job about her friend, Yuki who's tragic story becomes a spark for her rebellion, and new obsession: starting a band.
With zero music experience—Petra creates an amateur Japanese-themed ’60s garage band and joins the New York music scene of the early 2000s. It’s all fun and fantasy until she stumbles into accidental fame. Inconceivably, her band, Gaijin a Go-Go, lands a record deal with Sony Japan, making history as the only “nobodies” from America ever to score a deal with this major label.
Overnight, she’s launched on the ride of a bonafide Japanese pop star. She’s got the glitter, the gigs, and the groupies, but is ill prepared for the toll fame takes, the crushing loneliness, and the emotional baggage she just can’t shake—like growing up in a basement apartment with a single mom who was there… but not really. We see her attempt new romances, to bond with her bandmates, and pine for for a sense of home and belonging that is there...but not really.
When her high-octane life crashes, Petra loses it all: her band, her fiancé, and her job—Starting over at forty is her worst nightmare, but it's also what deeply tests her resilience. In the end, Petra flips the script. It’s not about what she lost; it’s about what she’s found: The freedom to heal herself, grow whole, buy land and find her own uniquely empowered path—happily-ever-after—on her terms.
The message…
This is the story of a female protagonist who’s followed her dreams and found success, yet her life still ends up, according to many, a cautionary tale. Xmas Cake, the Book delivers a bold, unapologetic alternative for women hitting midlife and making daring pivots—showing that self-fulfillment and reinvention are not just possible, but necessary. So is self-care. owning real estate, and finally, an exuberant catharsis.
In a world that covets The Bachelor and rom-coms that celebrate marriage and children as the ultimate goal for a woman’s fulfillment, Petra’s story offers offers a refreshing take on the whole "supposed to" narrative. Xmas Cake, the Book has a liberating message for single female and also LGBTQ readers who live outside the traditional family margins. Like, No One Tells You This, the witty memoir by Glynnis MacNicol, Petra tells an under-told story—where a single woman over forty challenges societal expectations and instead of buying into the usual shame, she celebrates her freedom and the choice to not settle for less. Like Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up by Alexandra Potter, where a woman in her forties struggles with feelings of inadequacy after losing a business and a fiancé, Petra's story deals with themes of self-acceptance and finding self-worth and joy, in a life that went off-script.
With a pitch-perfect voice, Petra's story spins all the labels meant to diminish women—into inspirational gold. Its Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation meets Jake Adelstein's memoir Tokyo Vice—gone rock ’n’ roll. For music lovers, this story also covers themes about the female experience in the global music industry. Much like Nobody Ever Asked Me About the Girls by Lisa Robinson, Petra reflects on the sacrifices and challenges she faces in her quest for "low-key" fame in a world dominated by men. Told through the voice of a complex Gen Xer—think Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag—it takes readers back to a pre-smartphone world where women raised on feminist ideals struggled to carve out space in a culture not quite ready for them. With sharp wit and a killer soundtrack, it serves heavy issues with a wink, some glitter and a very groovy soundtrack.
About the audience.
Xmas Cake, the Book is a "coming of middle age" story for single women over thirty, Millennials, and parents of Gen Z daughters—and anyone who's ever felt the pressure of an expiration date in America.
Fans of Sex and the City and And Just Like That will love Petra, a sharp, fashion-savvy protagonist whose rock ’n’ roll story plays out against the wild, unforgettable backdrop of Y2K. Tokyo Vice enthusiasts will love her deep dive into the allure of '90s Japan, where fashion, rebellion, and self-discovery collide.
With a nod to the childfree movement, Xmas Cake resonates with the 19 million single, non-moms in America, as highlighted in Melanie Notkin’s Otherhood and Kate Bolick’s Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own. Glynnis Macnicol’s No One Tells You This also speaks to the glory of living untethered after forty.
In an era of challenging patriarchal norms, Petra pushes back against labels like "spinster" and "cat lady", meant to diminish women who don't conform to the traditional lifestyle. Petra is here to rewrite the script. Her mission is simple: to show that a woman’s value isn’t defined by youth, beauty, or motherhood, but by her life experiences and self-worth.
With a proven track record from her short film and sold-out performances at The Moth Mainstage, Petra has already captivated a massive audience. Now, she’s ready to shake things up with a story that ends on a new kind of happily-ever-after—one that celebrates freedom, self-love, and blazing your own trail.
"I want to move the needle," Petra says. "I want to live in a world where a woman's value isn't only measured by her youth, hotness, or status as a mother, but on the richness of her life experience and full personhood. I wrote this story to offer a different kind of happily-ever-after and inspire the next generation to write theirs, too."
Now taking names for literary and film representation.
Now taking names for literary and film representation.
Let's talk!
Let's talk!
contact: petra - at - xmascakebook.com
Sample chapters available upon request. Email: petra - at - xmascakebook.com
About the author.
Petra Johana Hanson
Petra is a powerhouse native New Yorker, writer, filmmaker, and accidental pop star who took Japan by storm. Her journey from weekend songwriter to international sensation is as unexpected as it is electrifying. While jamming with her band, Gaijin à Go Go, Petra began writing songs in Japanese—an unlikely twist that set her on a path she never saw coming.
In 2003, her band was signed by Sony Music Japan and rocketed to fame, becoming an overnight sensation on the global music scene. They were soon featured on NPR’s The World, Japan's longest-running version of The Tonight Show, and Fuji TV’s iconic Waratte Itamo, in The Japan Times and the cultural magazine: ブラウンズブックス (translation: Barfout!) and more. From indie band to international acclaim, Petra’s rise was as wild and unpredictable as the music she made.
Petra holds a BFA from Cornell University, The Fashion Institute of Technology, and is a scholarship winner from the Aspen Writers Foundation. Her brief fame in Japan inspired the story of her Tribeca nominated short film, Xmas Cake—This American Shelf-life, and her forthcoming autobiographical novel.
She also writes for her newsletter, podcast, and live storytelling series The B/sider—a movement to reimagine a meaningful groove in life “after hitting the top forty.”
Currently bi-coastal, Petra splits her time between Brooklyn, and Costa Rica. She still performs with her reunited band, most recently at the Bay Area’s landmark Sweetwater Music Hall, and as a headliner at the Live at the Archway festival in DUMBO, Brooklyn.
Official Selection 2020
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