Babystar

Joscha Bongard’s assured feature debut tackles the world of child influencers, the price they pay and the parents who benefit. Since her birth, Luca has been an influencer and the bedrock of her parents’ income. As she approaches adulthood, living a lifestyle that is the envy of both teenagers and adults, her parents consider having another child to unlock a new source of income. Slowly, the psychic toll of a life lived for the adoration of online strangers finds Luca unravelling and seeing her parents in a new light. Eerie yet frighteningly believable, Bongard’s assured debut reveals the emotional complexities beneath the pursuit of success, questioning what is lost when life becomes a performance.