Liebhaberinnen

A sleeping bag on the ground in front of the fitness studio lockers, a coaching seminar and the morning shift briefing (to practise the salesperson smile): these are the tough situations Brigitte (Johanna Wokalek) finds herself in. She is the protagonist of this Elfriede Jelinek adaptation, in which debut filmmaker Koxi takes stock of the successful early novel by the later Nobel Prize winner by catapulting it from the 1970s into contemporary late capitalism. Female market value today? While scrolling, middle-aged trade fair hostess Brigitte comes across schoolgirl Paula (Hannah Schiller), who is doing all she can to get Internet fame. While one seems full of youthful ambitions and aspirations, the other starts comparing herself to her, increasingly obsessively. Brigitte must change her life to reach her goals with proper calculation – but are they really hers? Paula goes to drastic measures to break out of her dreary home, but there’s no escape. Liebhaberinnen is a dark tragicomedy about the impossibility of female fulfilment and the less empowering brand of mother-daughter relationships. ‘Use the patriarchy’ cum self-marketing optimisation. All in all, little has changed. (Laura Palys)

Koxi is a Luxembourg filmmaker and composer. She studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and founded the film production company paradies in 2014 with Antonio De Luca. In 2018 she was nominated for the Luxembourg Film Prize for her film Casting a Woman. She has collaborated with De Luca on over 30 film scores. As a composer, she was invited to Cannes in 2024 with the film Immaculata and was nominated for the German Film Award (Lola) for Vergiss Meyn Nicht. In 2025 she directed her first feature film, Liebhaberinnen, based on the novel by Elfriede Jelinek.

Director Koxi. Screenplay Antonio de Luca, Koxi. Cinematography Jakob Berger. Editing Andreas Menn, Antonio de Luca. Music Antonio de Luca. Sound Design Kai Holzkämper. Production Design Ina Timmerberg. Costumes Hannah Leiner. Make-Up Miriam Hübner. Casting Susanne Ritter. Producers Christine Kiauk, Herbert Schwering, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Judith Fülle, Matthias Murmann, Philipp Käßbohrer, Caroline Kox. Production companies COIN FILM (Köln, Germany), Amour Fou Luxembourg (Ettelbrück, Luxembourg). With Johanna Wokalek, Hannah Schiller, Ben Münchow, Victoria Trauttmansdorff, Jasmin Artosha Mokhtare, Susanne Bredehöft.

Films: 2013: Paradies (short film), Octave (music video). 2015: Perché la notte (music video). 2016: Ascending a Staircase (music video), Casting a Woman (short film). 2023: Soft Skills (short film). 2026: Liebhaberinnen / Women as Lovers.