Waifu
Drama • Drama, Short Films, 19-Jul-2023
A young woman becomes enamored with a waifu sex doll online and aims to transform herself into a sentient copy. Alexis Gil directs “Waifu,” a 35mm short film set in the Czech Republic that examines the strange ways a young woman sells herself to accomplish a transformation. We meet the film’s protagonist working in the attic of her family’s furniture store. There, she worships a scotch-taped DIY cardboard cutout of a waifu doll. Expressing a desire to look like the doll herself, her motivations to make some extra money become clear. Prostituting herself in odd ways for a series of older men — stepping on deviled eggs, being “examined” by a “doctor,” dancing in latex suits — she’s able to rack up the cash to afford injections and other alterations to her body. A jarring but beautifully photographed film, “Waifu” grippingly observes the influences of digital media and its relationship with fetishized beauty and image. -Jinho Myung. Director, Writer, Editor: Alexis Gil. Cast: Eliška Fridelová, Monika Herberova, Pavel Hermanovsky, Ivan Rüžička, Daniel Pečenka, Hudson Carter. DP: Ava Burka. Producer: Adelka Rüžičková.
Up Next in Drama
-
Atomic Love
A recently married woman helps her single friend shoot an introduction video for a dating service. Imogen McCluskey directs “Atomic Love,” a 1980s found-footage piece where honest truths between two friends reveal themselves. With her hot pink blazer and questionable perm, Aleea struggles to get ...
-
Side Walks
Two twenty-somethings, unrelated, struggle to maintain their personal relationships going about their day-to-day life in Vancouver. Brian Daniel Johnson directs “Side Walks,” a simple, yet cinematic, look at the lives of two young adults mainly told through their phone calls. Simon lives with his...
-
They Flew Like Blackbirds
In the old American South, a misplaced black teen with a white adoptive family becomes curious about her roots after hearing birds for the first time. Shannon M. Sutherland directs “They Flew Like Blackbirds,” a magical-realist drama set in the deep south in the early 20th century. Found as a bab...
