Waifu
Shot on Film
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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.
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