Since birth, 16-year-old Luca has been the star of her parents’ influencer empire, her every milestone curated for millions of followers. When they announce plans for another child, the cracks in their perfect image widen. Luca spirals into an emotional tailspin, rebelling against the role she’s been forced to play and realising how little of her life truly belongs to her. As the pressure mounts, she must decide whether to keep performing for the feed or reclaim her life beyond the spotlight. A biting satirical drama, Babystar explores the rise of family influencing and the children who become both product and commodity.

Cast & Crew
Producers: Lisa Purtscher, Lotta Schmelzer
Director: Joscha Bongard
Script: Nicole Rüthers, Joscha Bongard
Director of Photography: Jackob Sinsel
Production Design: Martha Brenner, Felicitas Püls
Music: Jonas Vogler
Sound: Muhammet Can
Editing: Emma Holzapfel, Wolfgang Purkhauser
Cast: Maja Bons, Bea Brocks, Liliom Lewald, Joy Ewulu, Maximilian Mundt, Verena Altenberger
Production Company: LiseLotte Films

Joscha Bongard
Joscha Bongard was born in Wolfsburg in 1994 and grew up in Kassel. After completing his high school diploma and training as an electronics technician for devices and systems, he worked in Cologne at the YouTube channel network TubeOne (now: We Are Era), which specializes in marketing and managing YouTubers .He then took on a position as a production assistant at the Berlin-based production company Iconoclast Germany before starting his studies in Directing for Film and TV at the Filmakademie in 2017. In 2019, Bongard was awarded the Baden-Württemberg scholarship and directed a short film at La Fémis in Paris. In 2022, he received another scholarship and participated in a masterclass at UCLA Extension in Los Angeles. His short film Jung Fragil, a reflection on sexuality and masculinity, had its international premiere at the Riga IFF in 2020, was broadcasted by German public TV and afterwards available in their media library (ARD Mediathek). In addition to narrative work, Bongard has also directed commercials and branded shorts in recent years for brands such as Mercedes, Bose, and Amazon Prime Studios. His first feature-length documentary, Pornfluencer, a portrait of a young amateur porn couple, premiered at DOK.fest Munich and was released in cinemas across Germany in July 2022. Pornfluencer was nominated for the German Documentary Film Award 2023. Babystar is his diploma film and debut feature.

Filmography
alacritas (short, 2015), Vitrum (short, 2018), Jung Fragil (short, 2020), This Will Be My Last Cigarette (short, 2021), Pornfluencer (doc., 2022), Babystar (2025)․