Babette's Feast () is a 1987 Danish drama film directed by Gabriel Axel. The screenplay, written by Axel, was based on the 1958 story of the same name by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). It was produced by Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Benni Korzen, with funding from the Danish Film Institute. Babette's Feast was the first Danish cinema film of a Blixen story. It was also the first Danish film to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Plot The elderly and pious Protestant sisters Martine (Birgitte Federspiel) and Filippa (Bodil Kjer) live in a small village on the remote western coast of Jutland in 19th-century Denmark. Their late father was a pastor who founded his own Pietistic conventicle. Lacking new converts, the aging sisters preside over a dwindling, but faithful, elderly congregation. The story flashes back 49 years, showing the sisters in their youthful loveliness. They have many suitors, but their father rejects them, as he selfishly wishes to retain the assistance of the young women to further his pastoral mission. Martine is courted by an impassioned young Swedish cavalry officer, Lorens Löwenhielm, who is visiting Jutland. Filippa is courted by a famous baritone, Achille Papin, from the Paris Opera, on hiatus to enjoy the silence of the coast. Both sisters decide to spurn their suitors and stay with their father. Thirty-five years later, Babette Hersant (Stéphane Audran) appears at their door. She carries a letter from Papin, who in it explains that she is a refugee from counter-revolutionary bloodshed in Paris and recommends her as a housekeeper. The sisters cannot afford to employ Babette, but she begs to work for free. Babette serves as their cook for the next 14 years, producing improved versions of the bland meals typical of the abstemious nature of the congregation and slowly gaining their respect, and that of the other local inhabitants. As the years go by, the sisters are deeply distressed by the increasing number of querulous arguments between the congregants. Babette is also troubled, and at one point, interrupts the arguments with a stern rebuke. Babette's only link to her former life is a lottery ticket. A Parisian friend annually renews the ticket. One day, she wins the lottery and receives 10,000 francs. After her win she decides to prepare a delicious dinner for