"Monika": Best regional short film at the 18th Lichter Filmfest

The documentary "Monika" by Geeske Janßen was awarded the prize for best regional short film. Her film portrays a man's intimate relationship with a love doll.

In the regional short film competition, the jury, consisting of Dascha Petuchow (producer), Brigitte Maria Bertele (director) and Jakob Zapf (director and producer), awarded "Monika" (Germany 2024, 12:00 min.) the LICHTER-Bembel and prize money of 1,000 euros. The film tells the story of a man's relationship with his sex doll - a love that enables closeness where it would otherwise remain unattainable. The film shows the positive effects of this bond, but also addresses loneliness and social stigmatization. How deep can a bond go when the object of love has a name but is not alive? Commenting on the decision, the jury said: "In twelve condensed minutes, the filmmaker manages to fan out the ethical complexity of the topic of sex dolls [...]. By means of the art of omission and a sensual-haptic camera work, Geeske Janßen creates a deep echo chamber for the dialectic of the use of an inanimate sexual object of satisfaction and the longing for touch, connection and comfort in the interaction with a non-judgmental companion." (Source: lichter-filmfest.de)

Geeske Janßen researched at the Graduate School for Moving Images: Analog Realities, Digital Materialities (Kunsthochschule Kassel) from 2021 to 2023.

About the LICHTER Filmfest
The LICHTER Filmfest Frankfurt International is a festival for film. It brings the region, its audience and its creatives together with guests from all over the world. Building bridges between film, artistic forms of expression and social dialog makes LICHTER something special among German film festivals. The 18th edition of the film festival took place from 22.04. to 27.04.2025.