Karlovy Vary 2026 Exclusive: MY FRIEND THE PORN STAR Poster Premiere
The Proxima Competition at the largest Czech film gathering, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 3–11), will host the world premiere of Rosa Friedrich’s hybrid documentary debut My Friend the Porn Star. Friedrich studied at the Film Academy Vienna under the tutelage of Michael Haneke and Jessica Hausner, exploring a more playful approach to film language.
Friedrich’s friend Timo dreams of making an artistic sex film with himself as the star. Rosa doesn’t usually watch porn. Yet she agrees to help him find a co-star and starts documenting the process along the way. But as the shoot draws closer, Timo begins to have doubts, and their friendship starts to break apart. At the last moment, he backs out entirely, leaving Rosa with a camera full of footage and many questions. Using AI to replace Timo’s face, she turns his withdrawal into the film’s central theme: the desire to be seen versus the urge to hide. Rewatching her material, it becomes clear that this conflict isn’t Timo’s alone.
The participants in the auditions for Timo’s sex film also move between curiosity, self-determination, and doubt. Rosa invites them to reshape the film together. What follows is a collective experiment: a dominatrix, three trans women, a non-binary food-porn creator, a stylist, an actress, a sex coach, and a chef each bring their own vision of eroticism to the project.
“We were aware that many films have one major poster artwork, and that’s it. But while selecting one central visual, we had to admit that the choice could not be reduced to a single image,” Friedrich and producer Dominic Spitaler reveal. “We have fruits, we have cakes, and, of course, very charismatic, colorful, and original characters. All of these make for a great visual representation of the film. We had to give all these elements some spotlight, so we decided to go for a full series of poster artworks. Just as you cannot put the film in one box, you cannot reduce it to one picture. We hope the artworks make people curious about the film and that the tongue-in-cheek posters will draw them into the cinema. Fruits and cake have never looked so delicious and sexy!”
Official synopsis: Timo dreams of making an artistic porn film — with himself in the leading role. When he pulls out shortly before filming starts, his friend Rosa is left with the unfinished material. What now?
