Peacock (Pfau - Bin ich echt?)

Directed by: Bernhard Wenger
Austria, Germany, 2024, 102'

Cankarjev dom Cinema Peacock (Pfau - Bin ich echt?)

Screenplay: Bernhard Wenger
Cinematography: Albin Wildner
Cast: Albrecht Schuch (Matthias), Julia Franz Richter (Sophia), Anton Noori (David), Theresa Frostad Eggesbo (Ina), Branko Samarovski (Johann), Maria Hofstätter (Vera), Salka Weber (Nora)
Producer: Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion
Distribution: Demiurg

Focusing on a master impersonator for hire slipping seamlessly into any role demanded by his clients, Wenger's directorial debut feature abounds in visual humour and unexpected plot twists.

Working for a rent-a-companion agency, Matthias is a master of his profession. Do you need a 'cultured boyfriend' to impress your friends? A 'perfect son' to influence your business partners' opinion of you? Or maybe just a sparring partner to rehearse an argument? Whatever it is, just rent Matthias. While excelling at pretending to be someone else, just being himself is the real challenge. Matthias' people-pleasing attitude has become so extreme that his girlfriend Sophia begins to wonder if he's not actually role-playing himself as well. "You're not real anymore," she tells Matthias before she leaves him.

Back in 2014, I came across "rent a friend" agencies, which have existed in Japan for two decades. You can rent friends, family members - anything you don't have in your life. I flew to Japan and met their employees. I not only learnt a lot about the background of these agencies and how the employees prepare, but I also met a person who told me that because of this peculiar profession, she no longer really knows who she is. I adopted this conflict for the main character and built the story around it."
Bernhard Wenger

Buy tickets